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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29255091">The Last Lieutenant</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrArchangel343/pseuds/DrArchangel343'>DrArchangel343</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, M/M, Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:21:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>32,154</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29255091</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrArchangel343/pseuds/DrArchangel343</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>If you like the male Sole Survivor and wondered how his career in the US Army was like before the bombs, and his new career following the Brotherhood of Steel? This is the Fanfic for you!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nate/Piper Wright</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"War Never Changes"</p><p>January 1st 2076</p><p>Ranger Ray's Speakeasy, Seattle Washington</p><p>Second Lieutenant Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>108th Fox Company Unit</p><p>U.S. Army</p><p>The sound of rain outside the bar brings a sense of peace after two shots of whiskey and a Nuka Cola is just what's needed for Nate right now. Especially with the upcoming news report on the television.</p><p>"Breaking news, our brave soldiers of the great red white and blue have finally annexed full control of Canada. All remaining forces of Canada's military will be folding into the US Army with full citizenship starting on January 3rd. Any and all civilians will be granted citizenship as well. So let's be sure to give our northern allies a great big apple pie welcome. And in other news, reports have been coming to us about the government deploying resources to the last operating Poseidon Energy oil rig-"</p><p>Eventually, Nate just tuned out the news and continued on with his drink. It's just more of the same he thought, and he was right. As he took another glimpse at the television he saw a couple of his power armored brothers executing another canadian rebel.</p><p>"Second Lieutenant Nate, the only soldier without one of these." Someone approaching Nate said with a couple of cigars.</p><p>"Captain Roger Maxson, the only soldier who doesn't carry his own lighter because everyone knows he'll constantly smoke all the good stuff." Nate laughed as he stood up to give Maxson a grisly man hug.</p><p>"Come here you drunk fucker!" Maxson laughed in response.</p><p>"These are my last two 'good' cigars." Roger handed Nate one of his stogies as they took their seats, "I figured if i'm going to smoke one of these I'd share the other with you."</p><p>"Oxhorn Cigars?" Nate was astonished while pulling out his good lighter.</p><p>"Premium blend, brother." Roger said as he reached for Nate's lighter.</p><p>Nate reached for his bottle of scotch and poured a couple of shots for him and Roger. Passing the lighter to its owner, Nate lit his own cigar.</p><p>"Fuck… that's the good shit." Nate said after blowing a smoke ring.</p><p>"Damn right, Nate… When in doubt, look to Oxhorn's cigar brand."</p><p>"Especially when Scotch is on the table." Nate chuckled between words, "So where you headin next?"</p><p>"Colonel Spindell and I are deploying to California. We'll be providing security-detail for some research facility by West-Tek."</p><p>"Sounds pretty vague, doesn't it?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Yeah, but i'm sure we'll get more information when we get there." Roger said before taking a sip of scotch.</p><p>"Here's hoping." Nate responded after taking a good inhale, "I have a five month leave starting tomorrow. After that I'm redeploying with my old unit to Anchorage… Me and the 108th, 2nd battalion are going straight to the front lines."</p><p>"Really? Well, give Nora a hug for me, will ya brother." Roger said while taking a swig of his scotch.</p><p>"Roger Maxson, you're all heart." Nate replied.</p><p>Suddenly the attention of the television jumped into their ears, regarding international news. "Moving onto our next news; more United States Marines are being deployed to reinforce Japanese strong points. If we want to win against these chinese communist enemies, we need to secure all the allies we can help."</p><p>Those last words, "We need to secure all the allies we can help"? To Nate and Roger they could actually taste the lies being fed to the US population. The taste had a sense of blood across their tongues. If copper had any form of edible taste, it would be human blood.</p><p>"Give'em hell, leathernecks." Roger held his glass in the air.</p><p>"Show'em why they call you 'Devildog's'!" Nate spoke up with his glass raised up in return, "Here's to the men who do the Navy's dirty work."</p><p>"The Navy's boots on the ground dirty work." Roger toasted his glass with a sharp clink to Nate's.</p><p>"This week's sponsor is brought to you by Vault-Tec, reserve a spot in one of our state of the art underground fallout shelters, and prepare for the future!"</p><p>Nate scrunched his eyes shut the moment that smiling vault-boy mascot showed up to seal the news-ad, and went back to looking at his swill.</p><p>"Captain, I gotta be honest with ya, brother to brother." Nate said after finishing his glass first, "All this technology, science. There's going to be a point in time where all this tech and progress will be meaningless. We're fooling ourselves here. I feel like the only people I can trust are you, the men I lead, and Nora. This whole war feels like a bad joke, and it's been building on a pile of more bad jokes. Eventually all of this is going to fire back on us, and I'm not talking about China. This whole world is on a knife edge, and all it takes now is just a little push."</p><p>"Nate… You're not wrong, but the truth is, you're finally waking up. Trust me, I've been in your shoes before, and I'll tell you now. This doesn't get easier. They say apple pies, baseball games, and amber waves of grain fields is the american dream. But like all dreams, sooner or later you have to wake up. Cause that's all the American dream is… A dream. The only mantra that keeps soldiers like us stable and alive is to focus on the objective. Especially when there are no orders. When you get home, just give your wife a hug. Show her how much you love her. If I have to call that an order, i'll do it, but I'm hoping I don't have to."</p><p>Those words from Roger Maxson released a lot of tension in Nate's bones "Thanks Captain."</p><p>From then on for the rest of the hour, Nate and Roger continued smoking and ordered their next round in silence. With the television muted out from their minds.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I managed to figure out how to crunch the first 10 minutes of Fallout 4! Booyah!! I'll be sure to use this method whenever certain plot points occur.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The First day in the Commonwealth</p><p>October 23rd 2287</p><p>Sanctuary Hills, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>Sole Survivor</p><p>No Affiliation</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>"This is Lieutenant Nate. Entry log number one. The current date and time of this recording is October 23, 2287… 9:26 hours in the morning. The last morning I remember was being with my wife and son. We were just getting ready for the day and the next thing we know the USA was getting nuked with the rest of the world. In Vault 111, we were put into cryo sleep. During our sleep my wife was shot by a man, a bald head and a scar across his face. And then Shaun was taken by some people in high grade hazmat suits. I managed to escape the vault with this Cryolator gun and Pip Boy. My first instinct was to return home and I found it in ruins. The only thing intact was Codsworth. He gave me a brief rundown and I can confirm that I've been frozen for about 210 years… So I've established my old neighborhood of Sanctuary Hills as a base of operations. Codsworth said that some settlers turned this place into a settlement about fifty years ago. They left behind all I need to get this place back in order. Water sources, workbenches, cooking and chem stations, I mean Hell they even left a power armor station at my neighbors house. Codsworth said he'll clean the gardens while I'm gone. Supplies are scarce and the grilled roaches I made a while ago taste like shit but it was enough protein to keep going. The only lead to finding my son are the locals in Concord as said by Codsworth. He kept my safe under the bed so I won't be leaving this neighborhood in just this skin tight vault suit. End recording." </p><p>Nate pulled out his recorded holotape log and stashed it above his safe. Swapping his vault suit for his old military fatigues, and checking the condition and the amount of ammo clips for his 9mm. Both are in good condition despite the long amount of years. His combat knife was still sharp to Nate's relief. His old military hat, binoculars, patrolman sunglasses and dog tags were in average condition. Then last but not least was his old yet still handy service rifle equipped with a short ranged ACOG sight, foregrip and mounted flashlight. The mag inside was full and six more spares were lined up inside the safe.</p><p>Before leaving the old house, Nate took one last look at Shaun's crib.</p><p>"I'm coming buddy." Nate said with a stern look of determination.</p><p>"Excuse me sir." Codsworth arrived just as Nate left the old home, "I packed your bag with your requested essentials. Good thing your neighbor Jahani stashed MRE's and pouched water in his cellar long before the bombs fell. Hahaha! Also I found this Fusion Core in a nearby APC ruin down the river. Maybe it could be of use. Also these caps here are the Commonwealth's currency. So that cash you have is better left as fire kindling. I'm afraid I couldn't find any spare stimpacks but I was able to fill your canteen with clean water from the faucets and your sleeping bag is 100% clean of any bedbugs."</p><p>"Thanks Codsworth." Nate said while taking his old Army backpack.</p><p>"I look forward to seeing you with young Shaun again. Oh speaking of which I almost forgot. I found this holotape from the missus. I believe she was going to give it to you before what happened when the bombs fell."</p><p>"Alright Codsworth, you did good. I'll be back before you know it."</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>"Alright Shaun, say bye bye! Bye Honey, we love you!" Nora said over the holotape as Shaun was making noises as the tape cut to blank. </p><p>Nate took a slow stroll as he was hearing Nora's message. A light smile crept through his lips as he made his way to the Red Rocket truck stop. At the corner of his eye inside the gas station, he could see a dark colored ball of fur ruffle around the windows. Just before Nate could sneak a peek to investigate, a full grown german shepherd leaped out from the window. The dog sprinted over to Nate with no sense of hostility towards him.</p><p>"Hey boy what are you doing out here by yourself? You wanna come with me pal?" Nate asked as the dog barked in a positive response, "Okay then let's stick together. I'll call you Dogmeat from here on."</p><p>Nate and his new friend, Dogmeat, arrived at the nearby fork in the road to find a couple of men in ragged clothes and crudely built weapons. They didn't look friendly and Dogmeat didn't look to welcome their presence. Before Nate could consider shooting them, he started by overhearing their conversation first.</p><p>"Man that bitch hardly put up a fight. All she had was some stupid locket." One of them boasted.</p><p>"Whatever those stupid farmers know their place. Let's get going, maybe we can go loot that other farm." Said another.</p><p>Nate couldn't stand to hear anymore, whoever these guys were they weren't going to be ones to talk things out. Nate switched his rifle to single shot and dropped both men before they could react.</p><p>Nate slowly made his way to the corpses and searched them for any ammo or food. If anything they had the locket they talked about and some .38 rounds. Anything else wasn't worth the weight. They didn't even have any food.</p><p>Nate could hear more gunfire down the street towards Concord. Making his way down he could see more of those poorly equipped looters and a man up in the museum's top balcony. Taking a closer look with his binoculars the man in the balcony looked to be in more trouble than the rest, so he decided to help him out of this situation.</p><p>With all the constant gunfire, picking off the other ragged shooters was easy enough. One bullet to the back of the head each, and they didn't even notice.</p><p>"Hey up here! On the balcony! I've got a group of settlers inside! The Raiders are almost through the door! Grab that Laser Musket and help us! Please!" The man shouted in sheer desperation.</p><p>Nate looked down at the laser weapon wrapped in wood, duct tape, and a crank to charge the battery. Nate didn't seem to need a crudely designed 'musket' given his selection of ballistic weaponry. Instead he strapped the weapon across the side of his backpack. Checking his current amount of bullets Nate quietly opened the front door to the Museum of Freedom.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Here's to Creativity!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It feels so good to pull out a longer chapter here. Hope you enjoy it! As much as I enjoyed writing it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ghosts of Soldiers Past</p><p>April 24th 2076</p><p>Museum of Freedom, Concord, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Second Lieutenant Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>108th Fox Company Unit</p><p>U.S. Army</p><p>0000000-FLASHBACK-0000000</p><p>The interior of the Museum of Freedom was an absolutely bittersweet sight to behold. From the Colonial Militia led by General Washington to drive back the British. Untrained farmers, immigrants, and drunks armed with poorly simple muskets and a little dream of freedom. </p><p>Thanks to Nate's career in the Army, he, his wife Nora, and Shaun were given a free pass to tour the exhibits. Including the invitation as guest of honor after Nate being declared a war hero from the Battle for Anchorage.</p><p>As the tour guide explained the exhibits of the American Revolution, Nate was able to mute the constant lectures and facts given to him and the tourists. Looking through all the exhibits of the constant struggle his country has been through. </p><p>No!</p><p>Not his country. His brothers in arms through the ages. His brothers who laid down their lives to protect what was theirs.</p><p>His entire family were from a long line of US military soldiers. To Nate the thought of what his ancestors have been through made him feel like there was no difference through the course of history.</p><p>And the idea of what he realized in that moment made him feel so puny in the course of this entire world.</p><p>Nate clenched his fists and quietly and breathed his way through the tour. A deep breath for four seconds, exhale slowly, and repeat. A deep breath for four seconds, exhale slowly, and repeat, etc.</p><p>Onward towards the upper floors, the first piece of art that was seared into Nate's mind was a mural over the course of the 20th century to the recent battle for Anchorage.</p><p>"While we're at this point let's have our special guest, Boston’s own war hero, lieutenant Nathan Shaw step up and give his words on the Battle of Anchorage." The tour guide announced with the crowd applauding.</p><p>Nate opened his eyes quickly and his realization on where he's been started to realign with his senses.</p><p>"Ugh yes, yes! Excuse me." Nate made his way through the crowd to the face of the mural.</p><p>"I'm sorry, I’m honestly unprepared to share my thoughts on this. I guess for now I'll just wing it and speak from the heart."</p><p>The crowd applauded in return with his first words.</p><p>"This mural to me… In my personal opinion, it speaks more words for the people who have lived through the generations of history it represents than the words I can say for it now to all of you. When the later years roll on from today our kids will look at this same piece of art and they'll see us, their grandparents, and everything we've made of this world…"</p><p>Nate paused briefly at those last words. They didn't feel as good as he spoke them out loud. However the people before him seem to not have heard what he thought of.</p><p>"So let's make sure this mural has more to say through the next years to come… Ugh thank you." Nate went back to his family's side and vanished in the crowd.</p><p>Nora took her husband's hand and gave him a light peck on the cheek.</p><p>"That was so sweet, honey." Nora whispered to Nate.</p><p>Nate looked over at Shaun and he googly eyed his father. Looking super happy to see his daddy's face.</p><p>Nate was able to crack a subtle smile from his little guy.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>When Freedom Calls</p><p>October 23rd 2287</p><p>Museum of Freedom, Concord, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan “Nate” Shaw</p><p>Sole Survivor of the US Army</p><p>No Affiliation</p><p>0000000000-TODAY-0000000000</p><p>Everything from history to morality has gone to shit the moment Nate stepped back into this museum.</p><p>There were a pair of raiders on the top floor trying to flush out the settlers above. Nate raised his rifle up and used his last two bullets on the raiders. </p><p>Crossing through the American Revolution exhibit, Nate’s amazed the lights and speakers are still working. The nuclear generators were definitely built to last. Nate could hear another raider bickering to himself and from the tension around his voice tell’s Nate he’s on edge with fear of what’s been going on.</p><p>Nate took the moment to lay low and pulled out his knife to kill the unsuspecting hostile. Footsteps were coming into earshot range from around the corner. Creeping along the rugged wall, Nate kept his breathing low and silent. In the corner of his eye, he could see Dogmeat tucked behind a pile of broken mannequins. The shadow of the incoming raider was approaching quickly. Giving Nate a reason to squeeze the grip to his knife even harder with anticipation. The moment the raider passed the doorway, Nate wrapped his arm around his neck and stabbed the raider in the neck. With his life slowly slipping away, Nate lowered his body just as slowly to keep the kill quiet.</p><p>Taking a quick scan in the raiders pockets he found half of a pack of cigarettes on his person. He may have no lighter, but why not? It could be worth a good amount of caps, knowing it’s effects. Taking a few more glimpses around the fresh corpse, Nate found something rather unbelievable to find these days.</p><p>“Where the fuck did this guy find a grenade?” Nate thought to himself while hooking it over jacket</p><p>Making his way to the next floor up, he passed a chem cooler with mentats and jet. Stuffing the chems in his pocket Nate dropped the empty mag in his rifle and replaced it with a fresh one, and made his way to the right side of the staircase. Leading to the same room as the mural.</p><p>“I’m telling you man, let’s just get the hell outta here. We got no reason to get shot.”</p><p>Nate could hear another raider complaining nearby.</p><p>“Stop bein’ such a fucking pansy. We hold out for the others. Like we’re supposed to.” The other raider argued back.</p><p>“What are you deaf? Somebody’s out there, shootin’ the place up. I ain’t sittin’, waitin to die…”</p><p>“Listen here, if you even think of making a break for that exit, your neck will be meeting the end of my boot. So grow some balls and-” The raider couldn’t finish his threat with his partners head getting blown up with a single rifle shot. He followed his fate quickly after trying to find the shooter behind him, but a bullet met his brains first.</p><p>Nate stood from behind the wooden display case and took another quick sweep of any useful items on the raiders. Some .38 bullet rounds, a lighter, enough cigarettes to fill his current pack to full, and a loaded double barrel shotgun. Taking the two slugs out, Nate left the empty shotgun on the body of its owner.</p><p>Before Nate could progress further up, he had to take a moment to lay eyes on the same piece of art from all those years ago. The same mural he was invited to have a few words over was mocking him. It looks as if the mural was just made a couple of years ago under poor conditions. After all these years, it gave Nate an awful pain in his stomach. Everything he fought for. Everything his ancestors fought for. All burned to ashes in a matter of hours from atomic fire. Nate’s heart rate began to race as the memories of Anchorage climbed further into his mind. Thousands upon thousands of painful needles punctured his brain in a matter of seconds. Shaking out those thoughts with the pain following, Nate continued forward to the settlers.</p><p>Taking the stairs up to the final floor, Nate could hear loud banging on a door from the other side of the wall in front of him.</p><p>“You either open up! Or I’m breaking down this door and i’m gonna skin every last one of you.” Yelled the raider.</p><p>“Give it a rest man, they’re not going anywhere anyway.” Said another raider.</p><p>“You hear that you lucky sons of bitches, we’ll give you some time to think.”</p><p>One of the two raiders opens the door to find an angry german shepherd tackling him with his fangs biting out his throat with a menacing growl. The moment even made the other raider stutter at the sight. Which gave Nate the best shot at shooting him down with his 9mm.</p><p>“This way c’mon!” Yells the one from the balcony from the otherside of the door.”</p><p>Nate tried to push the door inside, slowly, but Dogmeat just casually pushed aside to go lay on the nearby couch with some old lady in blue garments.</p><p>“Man I don’t know who you are, but your timing is impeccable. Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minutemen.”</p><p>“Minutemen? As in the militia from... N-nevermind, I’m glad I could help. I’m Nathan Shaw, but you can call me Nate.”</p><p>“Thanks Nate. Nice to know someone cares. Don’t see that often here.” Preston admitted putting down his musket. Feeling a sense of security from Nate’s presence.</p><p>“So what’s going on here? Who are these people?” Nate asked, hoping he didn’t help the wrong people.</p><p>“Just folks lookin' for a new home. A fresh start. I've been with 'em since Quincy. Lexington looked good for a while, but the Ghouls drove us outta there. A month ago, there were twenty of us. Yesterday there were eight. Now, we're five. It's just me, the Longs - Marcy and Jun - that's old Mama Murphy on the couch. And this here's Sturges.” Preston looked over at the man at the terminal.</p><p>“Hey.” The man known as Sturges didn’t look away from the terminal to greet face to face. He just weakly waved his hand.</p><p>“That sounds awful. I'm sorry. I know how this world can be. It hasn’t changed one bit.”</p><p>“Thanks, Anyway, we figured Concord would be a safe place to settle. Those Raiders proved us wrong. But... well, we do have one idea.” Preston’s expression lit up a smidgen with a smile. Whatever the idea is, it’s something that just might pull them out of this tight spot.</p><p>“One good idea could make all the difference. What’s the plan?” Nate asked with some added enthusiasm.</p><p>“Sturges, tell him.” Preston looked over to the tinkerer of the group.</p><p>“There’s a crashed vertibird up on the roof, prewar, maybe you’ve seen it. Well looks like one of it’s passengers left behind a seriously sweet goody. We’re talking about a full suit of cherry T-45 power armor. Military issue.”</p><p>“Ah I like where this is going.” Nate said with a sly expression on his face.</p><p>“I thought you might. You get the suit, you can rip the minigun right off the vertibird. After that those raiders get an express ticket to Hell. You dig?”</p><p>“Hm, full T-45 power armor, a minigun. Those raiders are already dead… Wait why haven’t you done this yourselves?” Nate suddenly picked up his old power armor experience from the back of his head.</p><p>“Well that’s why we’re talking to you. Like I said, it’s prewar, which means it’s likely been out of juice for a good long while. There’s a fusion core locked behind a security gate down in the basement.”</p><p>“We don’t need that, I actually have a spare in my bag right now.” Nate remembered thanks to his good friend, Codsworth.</p><p>“Well alright. Once you jack that core into that armor, and get the minigun, and those raiders will know they picked the wrong fight.”</p><p>“Alright, I’ll take care of the armor. Can I trust you guys to watch my pack… And my dog?” Nate asked.</p><p>“Don’t worry, kid, your gear and Dogmeat will be safe under our care.” the lady known as Mama Murphy said from the couch.</p><p>Dogmeat will be safe. Dogmeat. That’s the name Nate gave the dog himself. How could she have known that?</p><p>“How did you know my dog’s name?” Nate asked with Dogmeat laying down on the floor at her feet.</p><p>“Oh don’t worry, I knew you were coming, thanks to the chems I saw it. The Sight, it’s the Sight that showed me your journey playout the moment you left the nearby vault.” Mama Murphy even knows about Nate being from Vault 111.</p><p>“Wow… That’s… Just wow…” Nate was completely dumbstruck.</p><p>“Yeah, I’ve had the Sight since I was a little girl. I can see a bit of what was and what will be… Even now, all this chaos, and noise. It’s drawing something dangerous… Something big, and it’s… Angry.”</p><p>“Don’t worry, Mama Murphy, whatever’s on the way, I’ll keep you guys safe.” Nate kneeled to Mama Murphy with consent in his voice.</p><p>“Oh I see… I see… Oh it’s horrible, kid. Claws and teeth and horns. The very face of death itself.” Mama Murphy’s breathing started picking up faster as she finished her sight.</p><p>“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. I promise.” Nate reassured the old seer.</p><p>Nate stood back up from the floor. He removed his backpack and stowed his cap, grenade, his 9mm, all of his ammo and sunglasses. He left his pack near Dogmeat after unstrapping the laser musket he picked up before entering the museum.</p><p>“Here’s that laser musket, figured you guys’d want this back.” Nate gave the weapon to Preston. Which he was glad to have back in his possession.</p><p>“Thanks for giving this back.”</p><p>“Don’t worry, can I trust you to keep my weapon safe in return?” Nate asked.</p><p>“We’ll keep it safe, you have my word.”</p><p>“Okay, thanks Preston.” Nate left through the other door and up to the attic level.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The entire room was demolished from the old Vertibird, and just beside the old relic was the T-45 power armor as was told. From the looks of the sky from the crash landing, the time appeared to be late in the evening. Nightfall is not too far away.</p><p>Beside the armor was a desk with a holotape. Nate looked at the tag to find the name, “SSG Michael Daly”. Nate decided since this guy was another brother in arms of the United States military. He figured he should listen to this man’s last words.</p><p>“Personal log. United States Army Staff Sergeant Michael Daly. This past Saturday, October 23rd while en route to West Stockbridge, our veritbird crashed into the roof of this museum. The cause: EMP following nuclear detonation. Several, in fact. From the intel I've gathered, this was a global event. The co-pilot was killed on impact. Pilot died of his injuries a day later. Day after that, Flaherty and Kanawa were shot by some scared, desperate, survivors. Then Proznanski took off running. Haven't seen him since. Now it's my turn to go AWOL, if that concept even applies anymore. My armor's fusion core is burned out, so I guess my soldiering days are done. I'm heading to Boston, on foot, to see if my sister survived all this. She's got an apartment on Boylston Street. This is Mike Daly, signing out. Good luck. And God bless America. Or what's left of it.”</p><p>Nate took a good strong look at the old rusty power armor. He placed a hand on it’s left shoulder guard and laid his forehead in awe.</p><p>“Brother, this armor will not go out in vain. Thank you for saving us, brother.” Nate said to himself.</p><p>He walked over to the back, jacked the core in the suit, and stepped right along inside the suit. Even after all this time, a simple model of T-45 power armor still fits like a glove for this 200 year old lieutenant.</p><p>The HUD works just fine, on the side it shows the armor’s condition has been through a few wear and tear mishaps. A vertibird crash can do that.</p><p>Nate walked through the vertibird and took the minigun like an overpowered commando from the old war movies.</p><p>Switching on the headlamp the first raider Nate saw was on the building roof across the street.</p><p>“Hey boss, we got something big up here, and it’s really brigh-” The raider couldn’t finish his sentence because he was turned into human swiss cheese from Nate’s minigun.</p><p>Jumping off the building, the old power armor can still take a hard drop to the ground with no pain for the soldier inside.</p><p>Nate unleashed another barrage of bullets on the incoming raiders. They all dropped to the ground like shredded paper. Blood splattered across the cars, along the road and the building walls. Deep in Nate’s mind, for once in his life, even as a soldier, he felt like one of those heavy duty action heroes from the movies. Like Howard Braunschweiger in the movie “Sports Hunter from Space”.</p><p>As more raiders came pouring in from the streets a sudden quake from beneath his feet rumbled before him and the raiders. Following a guttural and blood thirsty roar. Further down the block the sewer vent began to shake and was straining to open up. Shortly after a hand of the Devil’s work emerged from the hatch and revealed itself as Mama Murphy explained. If it didn’t look as reptilian as it currently does, Nate could’ve mistaken that beast as a true incarnate of Hellspawn.</p><p>Nate and the rest of the raiders redirected their fire on this giant reptilian beast. All the raiders hardly put up a fight. This thing just ripped them apart. Severed limbs, heads and guts of all kind flew all over in it’s carnage. All that was left before this wingless dragon was the knight in old rustic armor, and it’s steel barreled great sword.</p><p>Nate emptied every 5mm round into that beast. It started swerving side to side to give Nate some missed shots to the point he ran out of rounds, and there was not enough time to reload. He just threw the empty minigun at the monster’s face giving Nate a window to dodge the monster’s pounce for him. He raced for the minigun in hopes to get it reloaded, but after a brief look away from the beast to the weapon, he found himself on his back to the ground. The monster was staring straight through Nate’s power armor visor while licking its chops. The monster was about to sink his claws into the armor, but Nate was able to catch its hand before it could make contact with his armored flesh. The struggle was near impossible, but Nate was able to hold long enough for him to land a hard punch to its face. Dazed for a moment, Nate gave this beast a hard headbutt, and pushed it off of him. Picking himself up, he found his minigun further away from him. It was too far for him to reach and hopefully reload so instead he got his hands on a sharp piece of metal shrapnel of a nearby street sign. The monster stood before Nate finally undazed. Gripping his improvised weapon, Nate and the monster sprinted straight towards each other wanting to end this fight once and for all.</p><p>From behind this entire fight Preston took a shot at the big monster. Luckily the shot was able to cause a brief distraction for Nate to land a solid stab through this monster's throat. It was killed briefly in a matter of moments, and was in as much pain as it roared in complete and utter pain.</p><p>Nate looked back up at the balcony to see Preston Garvey waving down at Nate. In return, Nate gave Preston a salute.</p><p>Picking up his minigun for reloading, he made his way back to the museum’s front door.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>“This is Lieutenant Nate. Entry log number two. The date is October 24th, 2287… 3:47 hours. These last twenty four hours was a rather rough hustle, but it was worth the effort. I was able to bring a group of settlers to Sanctuary Hills and a local militia man who was a member of a group known as the Minutemen. Codsworth was able to clean out the garden and now the Long family have taken over the gardening. The water pumps produced enough for everyone to go around for the six of us. Assuming more people come looking for a new home here, we’ll need more sources of water, and food. For now we’re thriving well enough so far. Preston agreed to watch over the settlement for the first shift of the night. Currently I’m watching over on the second shift with Codsworth. I stashed Mike Daly’s armor at the station, it’s a miracle there’s enough scrap metal to help patch up the suit. Once dawn arrives, I’m going to continue my journey. Mama Murphy who has the abilities of a seer when she’s high off her gourd told me of a lead to my son in what she calls the “Great Green Jewel of the Commonwealth”, Diamond City. Once my shift is done me and Dogmeat are heading the Great Green Jewel… Today. End recording.”</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Nate was just about to set out to resume his journey but the people and friends he saved couldn’t let him leave before seeing him off.</p><p>“Hey Nate… I just want you to know, good luck on finding your son. And I hope you don’t mind but I have a favor to ask. There’s a farm settlement not far from here run by the Abernathy family. I figured with Sanctuary Hills starting to thrive, maybe a trade route could prove a great benefit for us. We need to show the Commonwealth that the Minutemen are still out there, trying to help the people. If there’s anything you can do to help them with trading, I’d appreciate it.”</p><p>“And where’s this farm again?” Nate asked.</p><p>“Once you go past the Red Rocket Truck Stop just over the bridge, follow the powerlines east from there. Their farm is built around one of the towers for the cable lines.</p><p>“Alright, I’ll see what I can do.” Nate said, giving Preston some relief.</p><p>“Thanks Nate, also if you find anyone looking for a place to call home, don’t hesitate to tell them about this place.” Preston said.</p><p>“I will, Preston.”</p><p>“Mister Nate, sir. I know I’m no Mister Gutsy, but after everything that’s been happening, and with you back from the vault. I’d be honored if you’ll have me along your journey across the Commonwealth.”</p><p>“Alright, Codsworth… I guess I could use the help.”</p><p>“Proud to serve once again, sir.”</p><p>The Soldier, the Dog, and the Robot finally set out back into the Commonwealth.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>In case no one noticed, in the old “Storyteller Series” when the Storyteller was talking about Vault 108 to a bunch of Gary’s, there was the trailer for a Grognak the Barbarian movie starring an actor called Howard Braunschweiger. Knowing that Grognak is a spoof on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan the Barbarian, I had to reference Howard Braunschweiger in a movie spoof of the Predator franchise as “Sports Hunter from Space”. Lemme know if you caught that easter egg, and now that you think about it… If a piece of the Storyteller’s series is referenced in this series, you think maybe Nate will find our favorite annoying Brotherhood of Steel scholar out there?</p><p>Hmmmmmmm!</p><p>Here's to creativity!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I was worried I'd not get this chapter before the weekend started. Got it just in time, WOOT!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rebuilding Boston One Soul at a Time</p><p>October 24th 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>Sole Survivor</p><p>Commonwealth Minutemen</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Abernathy Farm looked like it was really well established, a two headed cow which was the most interesting part of the sight to see. A little cat prowling along the front porch. A man steps away from the crops who Nate assumes to be the head of the house to greet him. Especially since he has a .38 revolver aiming for his gut.</p><p>“Not another step, chump. What’s your business here?”</p><p>“Easy there, sir. I’m from Sanctuary Hills just up ahead. My name is Nate Shaw. We were just wondering if you guys were interested in joining our trade rout.” Nate explained as calmly as he could with his hands up.</p><p>“Oh… Well you don’t look like any of the raiders around here. Hell you don’t even smell like one of them… Alright then, you’re welcome to offer any trades to us, but be warned we’re armed here. Blake Abernathy, over there my wife Connie and my daughter Lucy. Anyway, you new around here, Nate?”</p><p>“Kinda… Yes, but also no… It’s a complicated story.” Nate explained as best he could.</p><p>“Well whatever the case, good to meet you. Lemme tell ya, farming isn’t easy, but it’s the only way up. It’s either that or you can go rob whatever you want at gunpoint. Like those fuckin raiders.”</p><p>“I know what you mean. Real assholes those lot!” Nate complained in return.</p><p>“Glad to know you get it. My daughter Mary tried to stand up to them. She was only twenty one, and those monsters shot her without question. Now she’s buried out back with her grandparents.”</p><p>The news pierced Nate’s soul like a knife in his chest, “I know how you feel. I lost someone too. My wife was shot the same way, and I was helpless to stop them.”</p><p>“Ah man, I’m sorry to hear that. Anyway those raiders took her locket yesterday, and we can barely hold our own as it is to go get. That’s why we need the Minutemen back. Without them, these raiders will eat us all up.”</p><p>“Well don’t worry, one of the people at Sanctuary Hills is a Minuteman. I’m confident he won’t let the minutemen- wait… Was the locket silver?” Nate asked as he put his bag down to check his loot.</p><p>Deep in the bottom, Nate pulled out the locket he looted yesterday, and Blake was in absolute shock by the sight.</p><p>“Are you serious? How did? What? Thank you Nate. Connie’s gonna be speechless! Hey you said you and Sanctuary Hills wanted to work on a trade, we’re in. if anything you need that we have it’s yours as well.”</p><p>“Thanks Blake, I’m glad we could help each other.” Nate said as he started putting away his backpack.</p><p>“I must say, sir. This is perhaps the most positive outlook I've seen in the Commonwealth.” Codsworth said from behind Nate.</p><p>“Alright, I’ll see you guys later.” Nate said as he began to leave the property.</p><p>“Actually, Nate. There’s a diner not far from here. Some woman and her son opened the place as a roadside general store. They might be interested in joining in on your trade route.”</p><p>“Thanks, Blake, I’ll head over there now.” Nate said before hiking over the hillside, and back on the road.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The trio of travellers make their way past the museum of freedom and further down to the next block. On their way they bumped into a two headed cow hauling gear and knicknacks over it’s back. Beside the road a woman is sitting under the billboard having a smoke.</p><p>“Umm, hey there.” Nate asked.</p><p>“What’s your story? Here to trade, rob me, or ask directions to Diamond City.” The woman responded rather rudely.</p><p>Nate cracked a smile to her response, and decided to pull out his old sarcastic card.</p><p>“Oh I’m Nate, and I”m just looking for love, sweet heart.” Nate said seductively smoothly.</p><p>“Ha well, you definitely came to the wrong place, but I’ll tell you this wiseass, you made old Trashcan Carla smile and that’s not easy. Anyway you wanna trade, I’ll give you a discount.”</p><p>Nate chuckled, “Sure what do you got?”</p><p>“I got some Jet, turpentine, oh I also got some addictol and a few MRE’s.”</p><p>“How much for the addictol and a couple of MRE’s?”</p><p>“About thirty five caps should cover all of it.”</p><p>“Hmm, how about twenty caps and twelve rounds of .32’s. Hell I’ll even add three cigarettes as the cherry on top.”</p><p>Carla smiled at the offer, “Alright that seems like a fair trade off. Alright… So regarding the MRE’s, do you want chicken and vegetable, beef curry, blueberry cobbler, chili with beans. cheddar cheese spread or pepperoni pizza?”</p><p>“Hmm, nice selection… I’ll take the pepperoni pizza and blueberry cobbler.”</p><p>“Tasty choice. Here you go Nate.” Carla handed Nate’s requested supplies as well as what Nate promised Carla in return.</p><p>“Thanks, Carla. You know, there’s a new settlement up past Concord ahead of the Red Rocket Truck Stop. It’s a neighborhood called Sanctuary Hills. We’re trying to establish trade routes between the local farms. Maybe some of your supplies will help us out.”</p><p>“Yeah I’ll head on up there. Maybe I’ll surpass my quota for the week… Hopefully my brahmin can handle the trip.” Carla smiled as he hauled his ‘Brahmin’ up the road.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Nate made his way to the Drumlin Diner to find himself caught in a heated argument with both sides having guns at the ready.</p><p>"Seriously?" Nate sighed as he rolled his eyes.</p><p>"We should help them settle before it escalated." Codsworth suggested.</p><p>"Might as well." Nate said with Dogmeat moving ahead to the diner.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>"This is Lieutenant Nate. Entry log number three. Current date is October 24th, 2287… 14:17 hours. It took some effort and convincing, but I got the Drumlin diner store owner, Trudy, to pay off the chem dealer, Wolfgang. I figured I'd give her my addictol on the house for her son. It's been a few hours since then and a few colorful locals came by. This little girl named Kat walked up to the store with this giant Sentry Bot as her bodyguard. She was hoping she could do some trading. I figured I'd give her my blueberry pie MRE in exchange for some water and a few stims. I figured I'd tell her about Sanctuary Hills and convince her to open a store up there and she was all for it. So she and her Sentry made the journey along with a father and daughter. Clinton and Charlie were there names. They told me about how they lost their mom and knowing my story… I couldn't just let them wander this wasteland without telling them. Hey maybe Charlie and Kat will get along. Right now I'm still at the Drumlin diner splitting my pizza MRE with Patrick. Not to mention this diner is perhaps my only chance to kick back in a stool and have a smoke. I mean fuck it, Patrick's right here ruining his lungs with me too. (Hi there, listeners.) I'm likely not gonna have a smooth journey to Diamond City from here on so might as well do what I can before shit hits the fan. On the upside if my hunch is correct and 'The Great Green Jewel' is the old Fenway Park baseball stadium then that's where I'm heading. So directions shouldn't be a problem. End recording."</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Nate ejected his holotape and stuffed it back in his bag. From behind he could hear some footsteps approaching. Quickly turning around he saw someone in a real raggedy worn military uniform. He wore a lousy conditioned combat helmet and had his face covered with a green bandana and dark pilot shades. Held close to his person was a scoped M-14 and .44 revolver across his waist.</p><p>"You. A smoothskin like you doesn't deserve to wear those fatigues." The guy's voice sounded like he gargled with broken glass.</p><p>Subtlety did not exist between this guy and Nate and he did not stand to hear that.</p><p>"I don't even know you and you wanna go like this right now? To me! I've been a lieutenant longer than you can imagine." Nate growled with grimly glaring eyes.</p><p>"Do you even fucking know what-" the man's guttural tone suddenly halted as he caught a glimpse at Nate's last name stitched across the front of his front pocket.</p><p>"Wait a minute… No… You.. You can't be him." The masked man looked over at Patrick and Wolfgang, "You see this guy in green too right?"</p><p>"He gave me one of his smokes." Patrick answered.</p><p>"He got Trudy here to pay up what she owes."</p><p>"Fuck you Wolfgang!" Shouted Trudy.</p><p>The moment of shock from this masked man was able to let Nate calm down from his rude first impression. He looked down at the name on this guy's uniform.</p><p>Nate spoke out loud for all of them to hear.</p><p>"Daly… As in... Staff Sergeant Michael Daly?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I heard that Mike Daly was supposed to be an NPC who would appear as a Prewar Ghoul. Of course he was cut out. So I figured, why the Hell not?</p><p>Here's to Creativity!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>210 Years through Hell</p><p>October 30th 2077</p><p>Cambridge, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>SSG Michael Daly</p><p>1st Battalion 15th Infantry Regiment</p><p>US Army</p><p>0000000-FLASHBACK-0000000</p><p>It's been a week since the bombs dropped. The rads feel they're literally crawling all around underneath Mike's skin. If he wasn't constantly on the move to the Boston Commons he'd probably think he's swelling up and about to explode.</p><p>On his way past the Corvega factory, Mike stumbled over his squad mate, Proznanski. Or what's left of him. Before he could leave him behind, he ripped off his tags and stuffed them with the rest of teams tags. With the two vertibird pilots, Flaherty, and Kanawa joining the trip. His squads memory is still around.</p><p>The rad storms were thick, but he can see from the nearby police station that he's in the Cambridge vicinity. Picking up the pace he made his way inside the station. The place seems intact. He should be safe for a bit. Hopefully Mike will find some Rad-Away or food. Fuck, he'd crawl across glass for a ballistic weapon.</p><p>Ransacking any container or box for anything of use he found a .44 magnum and a full box of rounds. Some MRE's, water and only one dose of Rad-Away. Before draining his amount of rads he filled up his stomach with all the food and water he can find. In the evidence storage room he found a hazmat suit with a cracked visor. Given the storm of rads happening, Mike was confident the owner won't be needing it anymore. Before leaving the station for good, Mike went to loot the armory for anything that can help. Aside from a few more revolvers, he found a standard issue Remington 870 pump action shotgun and an M14 rifle with a mounted long range scope.</p><p>He was trained to fight as a power armored soldier which means lots of hits and heavy hitting. So this setup was rather difficult to process. Before suiting up for the rads, Mike noticed some of his hair falling out. He figured by then he'd be puking up blood and bile but he feels fine.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Finally arriving at his sister's apartment complex he found the building in ruins with corpses all around. Even one Mike noticed with his sister's favorite dress.</p><p>Mike fell to his knees and ripped off his helmet. Screaming raw emotion and grief to the green sickly sky. He sat there motionless waiting for the radiation to kill him.</p><p>Thirty minutes later and he's still alive.</p><p>"Why the fuck am I still alive?" Mike asked. He noticed a sudden change in his throat as he spoke.</p><p>0000000000-TODAY-0000000000</p><p>A Purpose Reignited</p><p>October 24th 2287</p><p>Drumlin Diner, the Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Michael Daly</p><p>Prewar Ghoul Army Veteran</p><p>No Affiliation</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>"Holy shit brother." Nate said as he saw Mike's hands shake with his team's tags in his grip.</p><p>"I can barely remember my old life before the bombs. All I know is that the rads turned me into this rather than kill me. On the upside I became a pretty good shot over the years.”</p><p>“Thats definitely an upside. Before the bombs I was getting ready for the day. Next thing I know I'm racing to Vault 111 the second just before the bombs fell. I woke up this week, I was part of a cryogenic freezing experiment. I was the only survivor. Now here I am, trying to find my infant son. In this completely different Boston.”</p><p>“Sorry to hear that, brother.” Mike said before he swigged a gulp of his canteen of water.</p><p>"It’s okay. I have a lead on where to find him."</p><p>Patrick finally was able to speak his mind on this unusual conversation between two guys in green, "So how the Hell do you two know each other?" Patrick said as he threw out his cigarette.</p><p>“We don’t… Well not personally..” Nate excused.</p><p>“This man was a decorated war hero from the battle of Anchorage, Alaska. Every man worth their salt knew his name. In simpler words… This man was a badass commie killer.” Mike boasted in his groggy voice.</p><p>Nate actually felt a little good from hearing that. It’s rather weird for him to hear those old words from before the war.</p><p>“So he’s like you prewar ghouls?” Patrick asked.</p><p>“Well, good to know some of your kind can still retain their good looks.” Wolfgang looked down and up on the lieutenant’s gruff self..</p><p>“Buddy, don’t get any funny ideas.” Nate shot down that moment for the chem dealer.</p><p>Next to Nate, Mike was actually having a well earned pure belly laugh.<br/>“I haven’t been this entertained since the last bar fight in Goodneighbor!” Mike finally stopped laughing and took a swig of his canteen.</p><p>“You know, I found your power armor. I managed to replace its fusion core. Still works like a charm.” Nate said while pulling out a cigarette with his mouth. Nate looked over at his old army brother in arm. “Want a smoke?” Nate offered.</p><p>“Got a light?” Mike asked while pulling out two cigarettes, “I hope you don’t mind. At this point, nicotine is nothing compared to everything I’ve been inhaling.”</p><p>“Here.” Nate left his lighter on the table.</p><p>Mike lit both cigarettes in his mouth. Like he said, nicotine is the least of his worries.</p><p>“Me and the group I helped. We kept your armor at Sanctuary Hills. I gave it some repairs. Should still work. You could probably help the Minuteman guy over there, and if you’re as good of a shot you say, they could use a good sharpshooting hunter.”</p><p>“That’s not a bad idea, but hey… Be sure to visit. I can’t remember the last time I met another soldier.” Mike stood from his stool, leaving Nate’s lighter on the table.</p><p>“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure things are doing okay. For now I gotta get to Diamond City.”</p><p>“Yeah, cya. Good luck finding your son.”</p><p>Mike started making his way up the road to Sanctuary Hills.</p><p>“Thanks, Mike… Hey Grunt!” Nate shouted before Mike could walk any further.</p><p>Nate marched his way forward toward the Prewar soldier.</p><p>“This we will defend, brother.” Nate said with his posture upright and a salute just as proud. For a moment, he remembered what it was like to be the soldier he was.</p><p>Mike stood at attention, and gave the lieutenant a salute. He stayed like that for a moment longer as if he never forgot. He almost broke a tear, and a smile crept under his grotesque skin.</p><p>“At ease Staff Sergeant.” Nate lowered his salute.</p><p>“It’s been an honor, lieutenant.” Mike said as he resumed his way to Sanctuary Hills. After all his long years of backpacking through the wastelands, he actually felt like a soldier again.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Crossing the bridge, Mike found Sturges setting up a couple of Machine gun turrets. Once he finished tinkering with the last one he finally looked over to see Mike.</p><p>"Hey there, stranger. Here to settle down?" Sturges opened out his hand to the ghoul.</p><p>"Nate sent me." Mike responded.</p><p>"Well that's good to know… C'mon over I'll introduce you to Preston Garvey." Sturges waved his hand over and Mike soon after followed.</p><p>Looking around he saw a couple of girls, Charlie and Kat, running around giggling and having lot's of fun in each other's company.</p><p>In the distant he can see Gus, Kat's Sentry Bot patrolling the streets.</p><p>Making his away around the corner, Mike saw Charlie's father, Clinton, and Preston Garvey. From the looks of it, he's teaching Clinton to shoot a gun. A laser musket from the looks of it.</p><p>"Hey Preston, Nate's brought another one here." Sturges said.</p><p>"Thanks, Sturges, I'll take it from here." Preston said, standing from his current posture, "Clinton, fire a few more bottles and take a break. I'm gonna meet our new guest."</p><p>"Got it, Garvey." Clinton responded without turning around to acknowledge.</p><p>"I'm Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minutemen. What's your name?"</p><p>"I'm Michael Daly. Nate said there was a set of power armor here. Believe it or not, that's suit was mine. May I see it?"</p><p>"Are you serious? That was your armor? Wow! The stories you could tell."</p><p>Mike chuckled to that last part. "Maybe someday."</p><p>"The armor is just over here. C'mon."</p><p>"Hey Preston. I got the radio working. I'm hearing a request for the Minutemen at the Tenpines Bluff farm."</p><p>"Dammit! I was hoping we'd have more hands before we got a call." Preston hissed in irritation, "Alright… Tell them I'm on my way. Nate can't help us with this."</p><p>"Hey… I know I just got here but it sounds like you could use an extra gun. I'd be happy to volunteer."</p><p>"Thanks, Mike. Lemme get my gear and we'll head out. Clinton, think you can watch over the place while I'm gone?"</p><p>"Don't worry we'll be safe. Count on it." Clinton said with confidence.</p><p>"Alright… Mike. You think that power armor of yours can still fit?" Preston asked.</p><p>"Only way to find out." Mike said as he went over to his old armor.</p><p>"My old friend." Mike put a hand on his old T-45 power armor. A sense of nostalgia coursed through his mind. So many memories came flooding in a mere moment, "Ready to get back into action?"</p><p>Mike opened the back hatch and stepped right inside.</p><p>Everything he fought to find in the last 210 years was finally found, and it was all hiding in an underground vault, in cryofreezing.</p><p>"Thank you Lieutenant Nate." Mike smiled beneath this armor. After all these years, Michael Daly finally feels like the Staff Sergeant he used to be.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Fun Fact: Staff Sergeant Michael Daly was named after a World War II veteran, Michael J. Daly, a US Medal of Honor Recipient. I did a little digging and his Unit was the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment. I figured if that's the case, why not put SSG Michael Daly in the same unit in this here fanficl?</p><p>So yeah this chapter's primary focus was Michael. I'm hoping to write more chapters about him and some other characters. Whether they're canonical or original characters by me. I'll tell you now I have a few original characters up my sleeve. Once I have them planned out, and ready, brace for epicness.</p><p>Also I don't know why I wrote Wolfgang checking out Nate's figure. I guess since he didn't have much character, I figured that'd be an interesting wild card to try.</p><p>Here's to Creativity!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Just a quick heads up, I'm writing the Brotherhood of Steel with the mod "Ad Victoriam. A Brotherhood of Steel Overhaul Apocalyptic Edition." Created by "Sinlessorrow"</p><p>I admit I think the mod causes my game to crash especially when I'm in the Boston City grounds, but its worth it. The color schemes and added lore makes my day!</p><p>Also I'll be adding a couple of special guests and an extra BoS Mister Gutsy to the chapter.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fire Support</p><p>October 25th, 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>Sole Survivor</p><p>Commonwealth Minutemen</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>"This is Lieutenant Nate. Entry log number four, current date is October 25th, 2287… 22:51 hours. Staff Sergeant Daly and Preston were on their way to the Corvega Assembly Plant to clean out a raider camp. I figured I'd give them a hand since I've been there enough times to know the layout. If the bombs didn't drop I'd be applying for a management position over there. Aside from that, a radstorm is currently overhead. Codsworth predicts it should pass in a few hours. Sadly I'm down to one mag and I'm currently using it. In a way, despite the situation, it was actually worth helping them out. I saw Mike Daly in his old Power Armor. He may have the face no mother could love but I could tell he was beyond excited to kick ass in his old armor. Anyway I've taken shelter in this old industrial crate just outside Lexington to avoid any rads. I figured now would be a good time to clean my weapons and have an MRE. Good thing I found a can of Dog food for Dogmeat.  Codsworth volunteered to guard the outside perimeter till then. I'd be bored to tears right now but I found a radio station from Diamond City. The DJ does seem rather timid in his voice but his selection of music is worth putting up with. I'm sure the kid just needs a push in confidence. I'm sure that won't be hard. Anyway, we're hoping the storm clears by after midnight. I'd like to reach Cambridge before it gets too late. Hopefully I can find supplies in the police station… Regardless, I keep trying to remember what Roger taught me the last time we saw each other. Stay focused on the objective, and that's my son. I can only imagine what he'd do in this situation… End recording."</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The radstorm finally cleared at around midnight, Nate was rather hesitant to continue his journey considering the possible new threats awaiting him further, but he had a son to find. Fear couldn't limit his strength. Not while he's this close to the Boston city limits.</p><p>"Automated message repeat." A voice covered in heavy static suddenly popped from his pipboy.</p><p>"This is Scribe Haylen of Reconnaissance Squad Gladius to any unit in transmission range. Authorization Arx. Ferrum. Nine. Five. Our unit has sustained casualties and we're running low on supplies. We're requesting support or evac from our position at Cambridge Police Station. Automated message repeating…"</p><p>The message began it's next repeat when Nate turned off the message.</p><p>"Mister Nate… Are we going to help them?" Codsworth asked in slight concern.</p><p>"We're already this close to Boston… I can't help everyone." Nate said with slight hesitation.</p><p>"I understand sir, but if what I heard was correct; 'Arx Ferrum' is Latin for 'Iron Fortress'. I must say that language was nearing its death even before the bombs dropped. You do know what I'm getting, right sir? I know our goal is to find young Shaun, but… We cannot just turn a blind eye on the people who need help."</p><p>"Well they're definitely not your average wastelander." Nate concluded, "Gah! I have only mag left."</p><p>"Fear not, sir. You have Dogmeat and a Mister Handy with a buzz saw and flamer. We have your back!"</p><p>Nate looked down at his weapon. For once in his time in the Commonwealth, he really didn't want to help them. Diamond City was one more push of effort just ahead.</p><p>Then again… He realized something he had forgotten. Something his wife, Nora once told him.</p><p>"Sometimes one simple choice could lead to an even bigger opportunity, but the more you ponder on what to choose. The same choice will eventually consume you whole." Nora's soft voice echoed in Nate's head.</p><p>As strange as it was, he felt lighter in the shoulders after hearing her words. It's like he's been guarded by Nora's angel up above.</p><p>She made the same choice more times than Nate can begin to wonder before he ended up overthinking it again.</p><p>"Sir?" Codsworth asked once more to Nate.</p><p>"Let's go help'em out!" Nate said with a new look for determination. He and Dogmeat raced past Codsworth and straight for the Cambridge police station.</p><p>"Now that's the master Nate I remember! Onward to victory, hoorah!" Codsworth boasted catching up with Nate and Dogmeat.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Claws and plasma energy shots was heard all around.</p><p>"There's too many! Geahhh!" Knight Keane's last words were heard all around.</p><p>"Man down! Man down!" Paladin Danse roared as Knight Keane was being ripped apart by a feral.</p><p>"You feral corpses are way overdue!" Shouted Dave, the Mister Gutsy.</p><p>"Danse, cover me!" Scribe Haylen shouted as she lugged Knight Rhys away from the action.</p><p>Growing more desperate by the second, Haylen pulled out her laser pistol while Rhys reached for his fallen laser rifle on the ground.</p><p>Shortly after, Danse's weapon went dry. The nearest Feral lunged for him but was met with Danse's power armored grip. He broke its neck in one squeeze and threw it over to the incoming herd of ghouls to the right side.</p><p>The Feral Ghouls finally ceased their assault. Danse took the moment to reload his BLR-4. The second Danse finished, another incoming group of ghouls began to swarm over to Danse.</p><p>Before the Paladin could pull the trigger, the ghouls were hailed by a controlled burst of ballistic rounds. From the corner of Danse's eye, he spotted a man in green camo fatigues.</p><p>Nate has arrived.</p><p>Racing past Danse, Nate tackled the last ghoul and jabbing his combat knife in its throat excessively. Using his 9mm he shot down two more ghouls from the front. Dogmeat was able to bite the throat of the third.</p><p>Codsworth arrived shortly after and started lighting the ferals Nate shot down on fire to put them down for good, "Better make sure these ferals stay down."</p><p>The sudden backup made even Danse hesitate, "Check your fire, civilians incoming." Danse quickly shook off.</p><p>Dave resumed his slaughter of ghouls giving Haylen and Rhys a chance to get to cover.</p><p>Nate mantled back over the barricades for cover and ejected his last mag.</p><p>Sadly Nate didn't notice the Feral from the back alley he arrived from as it tackled him by surprise. It gnawed it's grotesque mouth over his face trying chomp down on him. His knife was pushed out of reach and his pistol was jammed. Luckily the Feral was dissolved into a puddle of green plasma goop. Now the plasma entrails are smothered all over Nate and his uniform. Haylen was seen with her weapon drawn, Danse assumed it was her that helped out this man.</p><p>"Oh fuck that's gross!" Nate shouted.</p><p>Picking himself up, and cleaning off his uniform, Nate finally had a chance to check on the people he just helped. They looked military aside from the black and red uniforms. The one in power armor was perhaps the CO. His armor was coated in black and red stripes were etched around certain details. Along with his rank and insignia of a sword and gear.</p><p>"We appreciate the help civilian, but what's your business here?" Danse asked in his militant tone of voice.</p><p>"I…" Nate peaked over to see a Mister Gutsy in the same armor design as Danse, "I picked up your radio message. I figured I'd drop by and help. Aside from that I'm just trying to survive out here. Like everyone else."</p><p>"The way you charged in and engaged those ferals I find that last part difficult to believe. Then again your pipboy explains how you got our message. Are you from a local settlement?"</p><p>"Sanctuary Hills north of Concord. Before that, Vault 111." Nate answered honestly.</p><p>"So you really are a vault dweller. Most people wouldn't admit to such a thing. I appreciate your honesty. Do you have a name?"</p><p>"I'm Nate."</p><p>"Good to meet you, Nate. If I appear suspicious, it's because our mission here has been difficult. Since the moment we arrived in the Commonwealth, we've been constantly under fire. If you want to continue pitching in, we could use an extra gun on our side."</p><p>"I'll continue to help, but you owe us an explanation first, I told you my name. Seems fair to do the same, or at least tell us who you guys represent."</p><p>"Agreed, the more we know the better." Codsworth added his input.</p><p>"Very well, I'm Paladin Danse, Brotherhood of Steel. Over there is Scribe Haylen, Knight Rhys, and our Mister Gutsy, Dave. We're on recon duty, but I'm down a man and our supplies are running low. I've been trying to send a distress call to my superiors, but the signal's too weak to reach them.</p><p>"Sir, if I may?" Haylen stood from her place tending Rhys's wounds.</p><p>"Proceed Haylen."</p><p>"I've modified the radio tower on the roof of the police station, but I'm afraid it just isn't enough."</p><p>"Our target is ArcJet Systems, and it contains the technology we need... the Deep Range Transmitter. We infiltrate the facility, secure the transmitter and bring it back here. So, what do you say? You willing to lend the Brotherhood of Steel a hand?"</p><p>"Hey what's that noise? Are those humans?" A guttural and undiscerning voice muttered.</p><p>Nate and Danse pointed their guns down the road on reflex. From the distance another group of unknown variants were approaching the compound.</p><p>"Damn it, my gun's empty." Nate whispered.</p><p>Dogmeat took off for a moment to fetch a spare BLR-4 rifle and left beside Nate to use. </p><p>Danse tossed Nate a spare fusion cell while Rhys walked over to the barricades to help reinforce the incoming hostiles.</p><p>"Hey you, do you even know how to use that thing?" Rhys groaned in disgust.</p><p>Nate looked over the weapon. This dark colored Laser Rifle had the same design as the standard issue AER-9. So Nate opened the ammo slot, put the cell inside the holster, locked the clamp and turned off the safety. Like a boss!</p><p>"I might be a little rusty." Nate replied.</p><p>Rhys didn't seem to take the boastful response well but the incoming voices grow louder for him to not care.</p><p>"Here take this." Nate offered Rhys a spare stimpack. To which Rhys ungratefully accepted. The sudden jolt from the stim gave Rhys enough energy to continue fighting.</p><p>"Those are humans! Let's kill them!" The monstrous voices grew louder. Following minor quakes from outside. Whoever or whatever was outside they were big.</p><p>From the corner of the entrance a group of seven tall, buff, sickly skin colored humanoids armed in scrap metal plates and helmets that took the shapes of medieval knights. The worst of all, these humanoids were armed with Browning M199 assault rifles. Fully loaded.</p><p>"Oh sh-" Nate couldn't finish that remark with the amount of gunfire aimed for them.</p><p>"This is the age of the Super Mutants!" One of them roared over the hailing bullets.</p><p>Nate took a brief moment over cover to fire down at one of the Superutants. Luckily he managed to shoot down a mutant into a pile of plasma bile.</p><p>The second went down with an exploding limb. The rest on the other hand were able to take the most punishment, and somehow they all disintegrated into ash.</p><p>"Was that any of us?" Nate yelled.</p><p>"No our weapons fire plasma shots, someone else did that." Haylen commented.</p><p>From the other side of the compound, a simple eyebot hovered it's way inside, and soon after another soldier in power armor arrived, but this time it was a suit of T-49 armor. Nate hasn't seen one of those since the early battles in Anchorage.</p><p>"Hello there fellow brothers and… Sister. Edna caught your distress signal. We figured we'd provide assistance. Everyone alright?"</p><p>All the members of the brotherhood lowered their weapons. Danse lowered Nate's weapon assuring him they're not hostile.</p><p>"Hello Storyteller." Danse greeted in slight annoyance.</p><p>"Paladin Danse, always a pleasure. Knight Rhys, Scribe Haylen, always a pleasure. I'm glad to see Dave is still in working order too." The Storyteller said as he walked inside the compound.</p><p>"And who's this?* The Storyteller asked.</p><p>"The civilians here caught our message too. His group helped us take care of the ferals earlier." Danse explained.</p><p>"Good to know. Anyway what's your status?" Storyteller asked.</p><p>Nate took the moment to break out of the conversation to check on the dead Knight above the railing. Checking for a pulse with no luck to confirm his status. Knight Keane is KIA. Knowing his life in the army, he ripped off his tags.</p><p>"Here, figured you guys would want them." Nate said as he handed the tags to Knight Rhys.</p><p>"Thanks." Rhys took the tags.</p><p>Dave eventually floated closer to Nate in a slight interest that only Codsworth could sense.</p><p>"Mister Nate, this Mister Gutsy here is actually making an unusual signal from looking at you."</p><p>"You there Maggot! Look over here!" Dave shouted in his normal drill sergeant voice.</p><p>"Scanning. Scanning results complete. Accessing Prewar records: Second Lieutenant Nathan Shaw. Member of the 108th Fox Company Unit, second battalion. US Army, war hero of Anchorage. Scan reveals a 100% facial match. Initiating Nuntius Ferro Protocol, article 1."</p><p>Dave suddenly went silent as well as everyone else around Nate.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If I'm gonna be implementing certain mods. Then adding the Storyteller and Edna is a no-brainer!</p><p>Here's to Creativity!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Just the Right Idea</p><p>October 26th, 2287</p><p>Sanctuary Hills, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Mike Daly</p><p>Commonwealth Minutemen</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>It was late after midnight when Mike and Preston returned from the Corvega Plant. Mike returned his power armor to the nearby station.</p><p>"Thanks for your help today Mike. I didn't think I could do it alone. You and Nate's extra hands definitely gave us the advantage.</p><p>"Don't mention it, Preston. It felt good to walk in my old armor again. If anything I should be thanking you, Preston."</p><p>"Right well, goodnight Mike." Preston said while retiring to his room.</p><p>Mike decided to stay up for a bit. Making his way to the kitchen he picked up a couple of Nukacola's and a pack of Big Boss cigarettes. He went over to the nearby ladder to the roof and have a seat with a good view of the night sky.</p><p>If there was one thing to stay alive for, it'd be to look over the stars. As ironic as the last 210 years have been, the night sky has been more clear nowadays.</p><p>Mike took a deep inhale of smoke in his lungs and blew out a smoke ring. Took a lot of practice to get those rings well blown. Mike popped a bottle of cola and resumed his gaze at the stars.</p><p>"Hey Mike." Preston said from the ladder.</p><p>He approached Mike in his casual garments and no hat, "You mind if I sit?"</p><p>"Of course." Mike answered.</p><p>Preston took his spot next to Mike, offering him his last bottle of Nukacola for Preston. To which he accepted eagerly.</p><p>"You know I've seen how the Minutemen work. Over all the years I've seen, the General always held the power of the Minutemen. Sadly that's only as good as the General stays alive."</p><p>Preston remained silent to the ghouls bitterly true words.</p><p>"If you ask me, once we rebuild the Minutemen, we'll make sure it lasts. But you're also right, Mike. Joe Becker, our last General was able to keep us in check. Until he died."</p><p>"First we need the Minutemen to be rebuilt… And I know just the right idea to make that happen." Mike brainstormed like a light bulb, "I'll explain after dawn. Let's go get some sleep."</p><p>"Yeah, agreed." Preston followed Mike to the latter.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>A Message in Steel</p><p>October 26th, 2287</p><p>Cambridge Police Station, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>Sole Survivor</p><p>Brotherhood of Steel</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>"Hold on a moment Dave!" The Storyteller ordered, "Don't execute that protocol till I give the order."</p><p>"Orders declined. By order of Elder Roger Maxson, Nuntius Ferro Protocol, article 1 must commence the moment Lieutenant Nate has been found."</p><p>Nate jumped in the moment he heard his captain's and oldest friends name.</p><p>"Mister Gutsy… Er, Dave, I order you to stand down and do not commence protocol till I say so. Robco Override code 626, Alpha 2." Nate said quickly.</p><p>"... Orders recieved Lieutenant. By your override I await further orders to resume my objective."</p><p>Nate and the rest of the Brotherhood have a moment before Dave could resume.</p><p>Rhys aimed his rifle at Nate's head with a stern look of disbelief and anger. "Alright hotshot, what's your game? Who the fuck sent you!"</p><p>Nate kept his hands up with Dogmeat and Codsworth defending their friend. Nate's look of irritation was amstarting to crack at this guy, but he did his best to stay composed.</p><p>"Rhys cool your jets now!" Danse rushed over to Rhys to smack the rifle away from Nate.</p><p>"Alright… Nate, I believe an explanation is in order. You said you were a Vault Dweller, but Dave found records of you from before the great war. This Vault 111, what was it's purpose?" Danse asked sternly and calmly.</p><p>Nate felt all eyes on him excluding Codsworth and Dogmeat. Cat's out of the bag now. Might as well let it out some more.</p><p>"Vault 111's purpose was to experiment and observe the effects of long-term cryogenic freezing on it's vault residents. Me, my wife and one year old son were one of them. We've been under ice for over 200 years. I woke up on the 22nd this month. My wife was shot by some merc, he and some other guys took my son. So yeah, I've been out in the Commonwealth looking for my infant boy. So does that give you guys some relief?" </p><p>Rhys dropped his glare a smidgen as he heard Nate's story. Everyone else took the moment to be silent for their guest.</p><p>Danse was the first to speak up, "So that's how you knew, Roger Maxson?"</p><p>"Yeah we first met in Officer School. Over in Georgia, of course he got the most out of it as captain. I at least made the cut to pass, by the skin of my teeth… Last time I saw Roger was back in Seattle, around the time US annexed Canada… After that he was sent to some base in California from West-Tek. I was sent to liberate Anchorage."</p><p>The Storyteller looked over at his eyebot, "Edna, please tell me your recording this!"</p><p>The eyebot responded in patterns of beeps.</p><p>"Good work, Edna!"</p><p>"Alright…" Was all Danse could mutter from Nate's story.</p><p>"Umm, Nate, if this is all true… Then this protocol from Elder Roger...Any ideas what he'd give you?"</p><p>"No, but I know one way to find out… Dave, resume Nuntius Ferro Protocol, article 1."</p><p>"Yessir Lieutenant! A message from Roger Maxson has been encoded for you in case you, Lieutenant Nathan, survived the nuclear bombs." Dave addressed the entire group.</p><p>"Edna, keep recording… this is History in the making!" The Storyteller sounded a little jittery in his words under that stern voice of his.</p><p>"Alright Dave, let's hear it." Nate answered.</p><p>"Beginning message now." Dave said. The moment after, his voice was replaced by the voice of his old friend and CO.</p><p>"Hello, Nate… If you're hearing this, that means the Brotherhood found you or vice versa. I figured in case we linked up long after my death by some chance I'd leave this recording for you. To be honest I doubt you'll ever hear this, but you've been tough as a Sentry Bot for as long as I've known you. So if anyone can make it through this hellish new world it'd be you. Also I've made sure this message would get to you exclusively the moment any of our robots would catch eyes on you. So if this message is being played then my doubts were complete horse shit. So the reason I'm recording this is that I'm hoping you're still able to kick ass. If any brotherhood members are listening to this as well, I ask that you give this man a chance to prove himself. Long before the Brotherhood of Steel, this man was, is and always will be my brother, even after my death. I'd be more than honored to fight beside him as I would with all of you. I mean, FUCK! This man once took a bullet for me long before my time in Mariposa. Food for thought brothers, and sisters. Also assuming Sgt. Platner is still around and hearing this as well. You have my permission to ask him any questions for any stories to come. Consider that an order sergeant. Farewell… Good luck, and steel be with you all." </p><p>Suddenly Roger Maxson's recording stopped and the whole vicinity went dead silent.</p><p>"So who's this Sergeant Platner?" Haylen was the first to break the silence.</p><p>"If memory serves Sgt. Platner was a soldier under Maxson's wing. He was real annoying, always boasting about these stories about history, but he meant well..."</p><p>All the brotherhood looked straight at the only soldier in T-49 power armor. Even Edna and Dave.</p><p>"What?" The Storyteller looks to the rest of the group, "You think I'm sgt. Platner?"</p><p>"We'll worry about that later." Danse finally spoke, "Haylen, take Rhys inside and bind his wounds."</p><p>"Yes sir."</p><p>"Rhys, once you're on your feet. I want you to make certain that the perimeter is secure."</p><p>"I'm on it."</p><p>"Storyteller… You and Edna remain out here, watch our backs till Rhys is able to join you."</p><p>"You got it " Storyteller responds.</p><p>"All right Nate… it's time to prove your worth. Head into the police station and resupply yourself, then let me know when you're ready to begin. Let's move out people!"</p><p>Danse, Rhys and Haylen enter the police station. Nate took a moment to sneak a glance at the Storyteller.</p><p>"So they call you the Storyteller?"</p><p>"Yeah, I'm a data procurement specialist. It gives my life purpose."</p><p>"Back when I was in basic, Platner's nickname was 'Storyteller'." Nate looked over him keenly.</p><p>Silence was the Storyteller's response. Nate didn't stick around to wait for him to speak. He just went inside to rearm himself. Leaving the Storyteller and Edna alone.</p><p>"I haven't heard my old name in so long." The Storyteller whispered under his voice piece.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>"So you gonna patch me up, or what?" Rhys asked while sitting on the floor.</p><p>"I don't know, your prognosis looks pretty grim. Might be more humane to just take you out back and shoot ya." Haylen joked rather grimly, but that's given in a military group.</p><p>"You're all heart, doc."</p><p>"Just quit squirming so I can get these bandages on."</p><p>Inside the police station were a few sleeping bags a distress pulser and ammo crates beside the counter.</p><p>Haylen finished patching up Rhys and made his way back outside the police station. Before he could exit the building he gave Nate one last scowl.</p><p>"Don't think you have an edge on all this! Roger may have trusted you, but you're just hired help, so you're gonna have to earn my trust." Rhys left Nate's sight and resumed his patrol around the perimeter.</p><p>Nate finally made his way to the offices or what was supposed to be the offices. Coming from behind him was Codsworth.</p><p>"Sir if I may, that uniform of yours seems to be in need of some deep cleaning. Might I recommend you find find a change of clothes soon."</p><p>"Hey… Nate." Haylen's voice sprang from behind Codsworth, "If you need a new uniform we have a few spares in the locker room."</p><p>"Thanks Haylen."</p><p>Nate made his way to the back to find the uniforms Haylen was talking about. All of them were designed with the top half from a power armor jumpsuit and the lower half from standard issue combat fatigues. All red and black designs from head to toe.</p><p>Nate removed his pipboy following his old military fatigues and dog tags. Nate noticed both halves of the suit were zipped together so he started off with his new pants. Fitting in the knee pads was easy enough, and tying his boot laces was the last part to adjust down below. Grabbing the jacket he zipped up the front of his suit. To finalize the uniform he zipped both pieces together from his waist. Nate rolled his shoulder blades around to fit in the suit more comfortably. The gloves were no slouch to get in either but he eventually was able to reach full mobility in his hands.</p><p>He picked up his pipboy and latched it back on his wrist. Last thing he noticed before leaving was a combat chest piece helmet with the same color design of the uniforms. He looked down at his new suit and figured the Brotherhood wouldn't mind if he slipped on one of their combat chest plates. Before clamping on the helmets chin-guard he checked the helmets flashlight to find a full battery charge. Last but not least we're his dog tags. His backpack was the one thing he took before leaving out the door.</p><p>"Excuse me Paladin Danse, I'm ready to go."</p><p>"Outstanding! Follow me, and try not to lag behind." Danse reached for his helmet and grabbed his laser rifle.</p><p>"Codsworth, you stay here and help the team anyway you can. Dogmeat you're with us." Nate ordered his group.</p><p>"Wait, Nate. Here." Haylen handed Nate a bundle of Fusion Cells. "These BLR-4 rifles have a longer cell charge so you'll be able to fire sixty rounds before needing to reload."</p><p>Nate took the extra fusion cells and followed quickly to catch up with Danse.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Over the Valley</p><p>October 26th 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Identity Unknown</p><p>Wastelander</p><p>No Affiliation</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>A farmer with his Brahmin was hiking through the night heading to the western border, just arriving at the old CIT.</p><p>Little did they suspect that a lone figure was tailing them. Across his back was an M72 Gauss Rifle that was just as well worn as his combat armor. He wore a balaclava and goggles underneath his helmet that covered his whole face.</p><p>The figure remained steady and we'll distant to the farmer and Brahmin.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So when I finished playing the Fallout Brotherhood mod I noticed in the story, Sgt. Platner was wounded by something from in the lower levels of the Mariposa base. When I saw the last couple of scenes to that, I thought to myself: Sgt. Platner is wearing the same Power Armor as the Storyteller and he survived some potential FEV injury. It's not too far off to consider Sgt. Platner and the Storyteller as the same person.</p><p>Here's to Creativity!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Took some time to get this chapter written. I had to do some digging on the aesthetics of the Necrons in Warhammer 40K and of course James Cameron's Terminator movies. Mainly the first two, and Salvation. I figured if the Brotherhood of Steel is going to be using the Ad Victorian Overhaul mod in this fanfic. I had to figure out how to make the other factions formidable to even the odds.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>A Call to Arms Pt.1</p><p>October 27th, 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>Recon Squad Gladius</p><p>Brotherhood of Steel</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The hike across the roads under the late night sky was rather eventful: an ambushed caravan by raiders, a few feral dogs and bloatflies. All under the edge of an incoming thunderstorm. Danse gave Nate the rundown on the last two recon teams and the potential threat lingering at Arcjet Systems. All finalized with a light drizzle of rain without the rads.</p><p>"There it is… Arcjet Systems. There shouldn't be any exterior security, so we'll head in through the front."</p><p>Danse and Nate surveyed the front patio for any signs of hostile activity. No threats were in sight so the two made their way to the front door. Danse stopped Nate at the door to give him a brief rundown for any low grunt soldier and above.</p><p>"Alright Nate, listen. We do this clean and quiet. No heroics and by the book. Understand?"</p><p>"Understood, Paladin."</p><p>"Remember, our primary target is the Deeprange Transmitter. Stay focused and check your fire. I don't want to be hit by stray bullets."</p><p>"Don't worry. I'll cover our six."</p><p>"Outstanding." Danse entered the facility carefully. Carefully panning very corner, nook, cranny, and shadow in the front lobby.</p><p>Nate took a moment to sweep one last look across the patio. A brief streak of lightning struck the skies with thunder rolling quickly after. A heavy barrage of rain was the gravy on top. Slowly backing into the Arcjet Systems facility with his aim steady, Nate closed the door to see Danse and the main lobby in complete ruins.</p><p>The storm outside echoed roughly around the walls. For a moment Nate could mistake the sounds from a sudden hailstorm. For all they knew it might be hail.</p><p>"It was corporations like this that put the last nail in the coffin for mankind. They exploited technology for their own gains, pocketing the cash and ignoring the damage they'd done." Danse explained as the two made their way to the security wing.</p><p>From behind, a tumbling clank of rubble and shrapnel broke through the sounds of the storm outside. On instinct Nate turned around the swivel to find the lobby empty. Still making his way towards the security room he noticed a few pieces of debris and junk fell from the second story. Fear took the back of Nate's neck and shot a cold sense down his spine. His breathing exercises quickly sprinted to mind from his time in the Army. He turned around to see Danse standing over dismembered Protectrons.</p><p>"Look at these wrecks. It appears as though the facility's automated security's already been dealt with."</p><p>Nate looked around the parts for any sign of a fight. Kicking over a Protectrons front plate for any other clues a sudden jolt snatched Nate's ankle. Nate and Danse jolted at the source, guns aimed quick to find a disfigured Protectrons on its last legs of power.</p><p>"Danger error error… activate error errrroorrrr…" the Protectron went dead silent, releasing his grip on Nate. After the robot shut down Nate caught a piece of a rod at the corner of his eye.</p><p>Pushing away the robotic debris with the tip of his rifle, the metal rod from a closer inspection, was actually a robotic arm.</p><p>"Hey Danse, recognize this?" Nate tossed the metallic limb to the Paladin. After a quick and thorough he tossed the arm back in the pile of parts in irritation.</p><p>"Dammit I was hoping to avoid this. Look at the evidence. There isn't a single spent ammunition casing or drop of blood in sight. These robots were assaulted by Institute synths. That metal arm confirms it."</p><p>"So… I assume these synths will look more humanlike than robots."</p><p>"They're an abuse of technology created by the Institute. Abominations meant to "improve" upon humanity. It's unacceptable. They simply can't be allowed to exist."</p><p>"And this Institute, what do you know about them?"</p><p>"They're a group of scientists who went underground when the Great War started. Spent the last few decades littering the Commonwealth with their technological nightmares." </p><p>Nate counted the number of Protectron pods. Destroying five Protectrons in the same room is no easy feat to achieve.</p><p>"Then we better watch our backs."</p><p>"Agreed, let's move up. Keep your flashlight off. The less light the less chances of being spotted."</p><p>"Yessir." Nate said with Dogmeat groaning in agreement.</p><p>Through the halls, the two soldiers made it to the back room offices. The main beef of the facility should be further down the building.</p><p>"This place is a mess, but I still see a few pieces of salvage that the Brotherhood might be interested in. After we're done here I'll have to mark this place for sweep and retrieve."</p><p>For Nate, tailing behind Danse didn't feel as safe from whatever could be lingering from behind. He'd sneak a few glances, rifle at the ready. As always there was nothing but dark tunnels. Didn't make the operation any easier. The next room must've been the management office. The blast door was shut tight with no way to break through.</p><p>"Looks like a dead end. See if you can find a way to get that door open. I'm going to reconnoiter the area. Check those terminals, one of them must open the door." Danse assumed a patrol pattern in the room for any suspecting ambush spots.</p><p>Nate started with the main computer for any help.</p><p>"Dammit, it needs a password. I'll go check another. The password's gotta be somewhere." Nate was able to access the other terminal with no use of any hacking. Turns out the password changed and was logged in this terminal.</p><p>"Alright Danse I got the password. Get ready to move out."</p><p>Plugging in the password, Nate found how to unlock the doors. The door opened with one push of a button.</p><p>"Nice work. Let's get mov…"</p><p>"Hostiles detected. Engaging." A group of four slender mettalic robots hovered over a pile of tech. The moment the door opened they shot up on their feet and raced to cover.</p><p>"Synth ambush open fire!" Danse stood his ground while Nate ducked under the desk for cover.</p><p>Flipping the safety from his laser rifle, Nate charged up from cover and laid down green plasma shots on the bucket heads.</p><p>The synths didn't look much for the moment but they're no slouches to gunfire. The last one fell in a puddle of plasma goo.</p><p>"Damn synths have compromised most of the facility." Danse huffed observing the count severed synths.</p><p>"Is someone there? Identify yourself." Danse was about to approach the halls rifle at the ready, but Nate held him off a moment.</p><p>"What the hell are you doing?" Danse hissed.</p><p>"Hold on." Nate laid low beside the man-sized hole in the corner.</p><p>Taking a quick peek around the corner a group of the same type of synths were stepping up the end of the hall. He looked over at Danse and held a finger to remain silent. Pulling out a frag grenade he showed it to Danse and responded only with a nod of approval. Ripping out the pin quietly, Nate rolled the grenade down the hall. Quickly moving back around the wall. The explosive went boom along with the sound of a good amount of robot voice cackling to death.</p><p>Nate gave the signal to move up. Danse took charge with Nate at the rear. Their current location must’ve been the science wing. Robotic limbs were scattered everywhere around the grenade’s point of impact.</p><p>As soon as the two fully entered the room, three synths landed on their knees to the floor with a hard thud. Standing up slowly revealed their true height to be the same as Paladin Danse in full power armor. They’re aesthetic build was more in muscular armor plating, and they’re faces formed a menacing shape of a human skull. The wiring tethered across their bodies glowed an eerie shade of bright blue. The glow pulsed in unison like a heartbeat. The design of how the wires were aligned along the Synths bodies gave the idea of veins pumping blood through flesh. The final menacing detail were the eyes. They were just two blue dots on their heads.</p><p>“Humans acquired. Lethal force engaged.” Their deep, menacing voices spoke in unison, and held no emotions. They pulled their rifles out from their back holsters, and unleashed a barrage of heavy laser shots.</p><p>“Get behind me!” Danse shouted. Which Nate darted behind as ordered.</p><p>The loud consistent shots was giving Danse some serious pushback but no critical damage just yet. Nate crouched and aimed his rifle, left side of Danse’s legs. These variants of synth were definitely built to take punishment and deliver the same amount in return. Moving back behind Danse and his armored self quickly, Nate took a quick breath to fill his lungs as good as he can. Like all soldiers both flesh and metal they always have constant weakness. Nate darted back out of cover and aimed for the kneecaps and shoulder joints. The first round of shots went through the closest synth as smooth as a silk. The last shots went straight for the synths lower neck.</p><p>“Aim for the joints!” Nate yelled from behind Danse.</p><p>The second synth went down just as the first. Both legs were shot clean off by Danse. The third synth didn’t go down so easily. When the first two went down, the final synth pulled out a ripper knife and went straight for Danse. He riposted the handheld chainsaw and shoulder rammed the last synth into a daze. With his metallic grip, Danse took a hard snatch at it’s throat, and crushed it in his grip for good measure. Finally he slammed the synth on the ground hard to make the ground tremble lightly.</p><p>“Holy shit, Danse.” Nate looked over Danse’s execution.</p><p>“Nate!” Danse pointed just as soon as the second synth tackled Nate from behind and threw him to the nearby corner.</p><p>Danse was about to fire, but his fusion cell was spent.</p><p>As Danse hastily tried to reload, the crippled synth used its arms to crawl over to Nate. It grasped it’s cold metal grip at his throat. Quickly losing consciousness, Nate pulled his 9mm in the synth’s throat. The machine’s tight grip began to loosen enough for Nate to break out and crawl away a few more feet. The synth sadly caught Nate's footing, but that short crawl was all Nate needed to reach the last synths ripper saw. The synth back above Nate with it’s last killing punch was cut short as Nate revved the weapon and sliced through it’s torso with a hard primal scream. Sparks flew like a forge under pressure and it's oily fluids spewed like a garden hose. The synth fell on Nate in two pieces. Warm dark oil like substances started gushing all Nate's face.</p><p>By the time Danse had his rifle reloaded, the synth was already taken care of. The synth he had under his armored boot was still trying to kill Danse, but when Nate noticed he picked himself up his laser weapon and emptied his entire clip on the synth. A full sixty round fusion cell all emptied on a synth till it was drowned in a pile of plasma goo. The look in Nate’s eyes remained cold and grim. Shooting without any glimmer of mercy to this mechanized abomination of science.</p><p>“Fucking machine.” Nate growled.</p><p>Danse kept his distance for a moment Nate seemed to need space. He could hear Nate’s breathing slowly in his nose. Four seconds later and exhaling. A few more times later of this exercise and Nate was finally able to shut his eyes. With relief, Nate lowered his weapon to reload a fresh fusion cell.</p><p>“Ready to advance Nate?”</p><p>“Yessir.” Nate hissed.</p><p>Danse resumed point upstairs through the science wing with Nate watching his back.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Over the Moon Pt.1</p><p>October 27th, 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Identity Unknown</p><p>Wastelander</p><p>No Affiliation</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Crossing Cambridge, the farmer and Brahmin made their way further east. The man in combat armor was still undetected further behind. </p><p>The rain started to settle to a lighter drizzle, thankfully. The farmer and Brahmin took a moment to take a breather. The lone soldier remained vigilant overseeing the duo.</p><p>"Do you still have the backup?" The soldier spoke under his balaclava.</p><p>The moment he finished his question a shadowy figure phased next to the soldier. Beside him was a feminine figure proned with an Anti-Material Rifle and dawned in a Chinese Stealth Suit.</p><p>"You know it, pops."</p><p>"Alright. The bait's moving up, let's get back to it." The soldier resumed his quiet tailing while the young woman cloaked back further ahead.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>A Call to Arms Pt.2</p><p>October 27th, 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>Recon Squad Gladius</p><p>Brotherhood of Steel</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>A clean faced Nate and calm Danse finally made it to the main engine testing silo. "Look at this place. Scribes would have a field day in here." Danse said in astonishment at the four story engine core. The condition looks like it wasn't touched by the bombs by one speck of rads. Might still fire after all these years.</p><p>"The transmitter should be in the control room at the top of the core but it looks like the elevators are dead. We'll have to keep heading down for now and find a way to get the facility's power back online. There has to be a power backup system somewhere."</p><p>Making their way downstairs, Dogmeat passed through the two soldiers and into the bottom control room.</p><p>"Looks like your dog may have found something useful. Scout the maintenance area off of the main chamber. I'll remain here and watch our backs."</p><p>"Got it sir." Nate responded. Following Dogmeat to the maintenance room, Nate found his dog barking over this strange device. It was built out of spare parts and was in the shape of a funnelled canon. He plugged in the nearby holotape with the label 'Junkjet'.</p><p>"Jeering. Leering. Laughing. Mocking. Taunting. 'Oh, he graduated all right. From high school.' 'It's fine, I'm sure he took shop class.' 'Oh look, he's reading the science mags. How cute.' Har har har. Shop class. Let's see them make this in shop class. My marvel of engineering. The finest in weaponized refuse acceleration. My beauty. My Junkjet. They'll see. The engineers, with their suits and fancy degrees. Come Monday morning, they'll all see."</p><p>"Crazy technician." Nate scolded. As crude as the device was described, Nate considered taking it with them.</p><p>"There's gotta be some value to this thing." Nate thought to himself.</p><p>Moving to the fusion generator room, the main power switch was off but the generator was still running.</p><p>"Alright Danse, I'm switching the power on. Oh and just in case, why don't you step inside the room. Don't want that engine to heat up your armor. You'll cook like an oven in there."</p><p>"How very funny of you. I'm on my way " Danse made his way to the maintenance room while Nate began to throw the switch. The whole facility sparked back to life in a burst of electricity, "Excellent work, Nate. Let's-"</p><p>A horde of the smaller model of Synths started falling down from the higher floors. Danse was about to charge out there, but Nate caught him before he could leave by sealing the blast doors.</p><p>"What the Hell Nate!"</p><p>"Save your ammo, Paladin." Nate dashed to the control console and slammed the main ignition button.</p><p>All the synths tried shooting down the glass but no crack was made. </p><p>"Engine Core power restored. Thermal Engine fueled, primed and standing by for your command. Command accepted. Commencing five second countdown. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Engine firing."</p><p>Finally the engine fired after 210 years. All the synths below were nothing but ashes in the end.</p><p>"Test firing completed with an efficiency rating of 96.7 percent. Warning: Fuel depleted. Engine Core is offline."</p><p>"Well that's one way to clear a room. At least the power's back on and we have a way to the top. Let's go." Danse was about to walk out but Nate suggested they bring the 'Junkjet'. Danse volunteered to carry it across his back. Nate turned over and hooked the weapon over Danse's shoulders. After sealing tight and looking over two times over, Nate, Dogmeat and Danse made their way up.</p><p>The elevator was cramped with Danse in his armor and junkhet behind him. Dogmeat and Nate kept themselves pressed to the right side of the walls as the ride up went along. Finally on cue with a quick ding from the elevator the doors opened up.</p><p>"Humans spotted. Commencing execution."</p><p>A group of skinny lowlife synths ran out with shock batons in hand. They went down as scrap like cannon fodder. There were only two more of those tall, stronger synths still inside. They must be hunkering down for Nate and Danse's arrival.</p><p>Nate held Danse back a moment to show him his last frag grenade. Pulling the pin he rebound the grenade in the wall and landed just between the two other synths. Once the explosion finished, Nate and Danse charged in with Dogmeat pushing ahead first.</p><p>Nate and Danse aimed their weapons for the synth on the left. It's neck was shot by Danse and the kneecaps by Nate. Dogmeat bit out a few of the last synths wires under its neck. Nate went over to the last one and shot a few more rounds in its head. Confirming it's kill for good.</p><p>"Room's clear. Stay frosty." Nate said as he surveyed the corners. Danse made his way inside next.</p><p>"I hope that's the last of them… Damn it. I don't see the device anywhere. Fan out and check the synth remains. They may have been after the transmitter as well."</p><p>Dogmeat sniffed out the transmitter on the same synth he killed. He picked up the device and ran over to Nate to give it to him.</p><p>"Dogmeat got the transmitter. That's my boy!" Nate gave Dogmeat a scratch behind the ears. His tapping hind legs told Nate his dog is enjoying the praise.</p><p>"Excellent job, Dogmeat. Let's get out of here. We'll take the service elevator to the surface." Danse said as he pushed the button.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Over the Moon Pt.2</p><p>October 27th, 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Identity Unknown</p><p>Wastelander</p><p>No Affiliation</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p> </p><p>The farmer finally made it to his destination and met the three visitors of interest.</p><p>"Alright Emma, we're almost to your home. Just a little further. Your hubflower patch is waiting for you, you'll be there in no time."</p><p>The Soldier has his Gauss rifle aimed straight for the farmer and Brahmin. Dawn is just rising from the horizon.</p><p>"C'mon you fuckers, gimme something to shoot at. Gimme something to shoot at." The soldier muttered under his breath consistently.</p><p>From behind the man he could hear a faint ding of an elevator chime behind him at the Arcjet disposal area.</p><p>"Bunker looks clear. Let's move out Nate." Danse stepped outside to see the rising sun and the soldier dead set on the farmer out front.</p><p>"Hold tight Nate." Danse whispered low while pulling out his laser rifle. Nate stepped out to see the same soldier.</p><p>"Hold your fire, Danse I don't think he's here for us."</p><p>Right on cue as if like clockwork, a sound from the skies suddenly grew loud in a quick burst of speed. Just above in less than a second, a UFO arrived. Two aliens dropped down to secure the ground area and lift the Brahmin. The two aliens zapped the farmer turning him into some blue colored goop, like plasma.</p><p>The soldier finally pulled the trigger to his Gauss rifle at the UFO's opening for the gravity beam. A direct hit caused the UFO's pilot to burst in bloody green pieces. Along with the UFO itself to crash down on the rest of the aliens on the ground.</p><p>"Holy shit." Nate and Danse said in unison.</p><p>The masked soldier treaded lightly over to the UFO's remains and checked for any signs of surviving aliens. When the coast was clear he looked over the UFO's condition and found no serious damages other then from his Gauss rifle.</p><p>Taking a moment to acknowledge the two other soldiers behind him. One soldier in particular caught his interest. the symbol on Danse's armor could be recognized anywhere. </p><p>"Hey Brotherhood, c'mere! Check out the catch!" The soldier spoke with pride. From behind the woman in the Chinese Stealth Suit decloaked and instantly, Nate held his weapon firm at the woman.</p><p>The woman removed the suits head piece to reveal a rather young face with short blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She looked to be in her late teens and early twenties.</p><p>"Hey hey! Check fire initiate. We're not your enemies. Sally why don't you go get the rest of our gear."</p><p>Sally jumped down from the UFO and cloaked back again.</p><p>The other soldier jumped off the UFO and removed his helmet.</p><p>Nate stood in sudden awe and disbelief.</p><p>"Holy fucking shit." Nate spoke out loud.</p><p>The soldier carried a well worn face of years of struggle and his blonde hair was shaved thin on the sides. Yet the one distinct feature was the shape of his green colored eyes.</p><p>Nate removed his helmet to the man and shortly after he felt the same rush as Nate.</p><p>"Lieutenant Nate?"</p><p>"Private Elliot?"</p><p>As the two soldiers tried to process what was before them, Dogmeat raced over to the UFO and gave it a quick sniff. Afterwards he started to lift his leg up. </p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And KABOOM, another blast from the last with Elliot Tercorien and Sally. Looking forward to writing more of this.</p><p>Here's to Creativity!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Don't Stop Me Now</p><p>Anchorage, Alaska</p><p>June 9th, 2076</p><p>Pvt. Elliot Tercorien</p><p>108th Infantry Battalion</p><p>US Army</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The cold wind cuts deep through the armor right to the bone. The medical team was really starting to envy the cold interior functions of their Mister Orderly robots. The only comfort for the medics and patients is the stereo playing Queen.</p><p>"I'm burnin' through the sky, yeah<br/>200 degrees<br/>That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit<br/>I'm travelling at the speed of light<br/>I wanna make a supersonic woman of you"</p><p>The tune faded in the background as the soldiers continued their work.</p><p>"I can't believe this band is still being broadcasted." Private Dawkins complained while packing more supplies in the crates.</p><p>"Watch your mouth, private!" Corporal Spurlock said while playing cards with Sergeant Daniels.</p><p>"Every generation needs to hear Queens music." Daniels commented.</p><p>"Freddie Mercury is immortal!" Corporal Rheems finalized.</p><p>"Won't argue with that."</p><p>"Amen, brother.*</p><p>Private Mears and Beckett were inspecting the wounds on a newly arrived soldier. The rest of them were in stable condition so most of the medics were just acting as security detail for the medical vicinity.</p><p>The sound of heavy engines started coming into earshot over the music. A line of loading trucks were driving up to the camp. A sight of very cold sore eyes for everyone.</p><p>"Daniels, kill the music. Everyone up and at'em! The Lieutenant's here with the transports. Get off your asses now grunts!" Sergeant Daniels ordered.</p><p>The men finished their current duties and raced to the front side of camp in perfect order and unison.</p><p>At the front grounds of their camp the large trucks parked outside dead ahead. The first few soldiers to survey the perimeter stepped outside, rifle in arms, and the first officer was none other than Lieutenant Nate.</p><p>"Team attention! PRESENT ARMS!"</p><p>"At ease ladies." Nate said, passing the group over to meet with the sergeant.</p><p>"Sergeant Daniels, I'm here for your report. My men will see to the wounded loaded on the trucks."</p><p>"Yessir Lieutenant. Private Elliot… Elliot? Rheems where's Elliot?"</p><p>"I think he's at the terminal, adding the final details to the report." The corporal said while supervising the wounded transfer.</p><p>"Son of a bitch." Sergeant spat.</p><p>"Sloppy work, sergeant. Lemme go see this private. Where can I find the terminal?" Nate said sternly with the bigger rank on his chest.</p><p>"Inside the main tent, that way." Sergeant said in defeat.</p><p>"As you were sergeant." Nate said, passing over Daniels to find Elliot.</p><p>Nate made his way to the main tent to find the Private in question.</p><p>Nate asked the soldier completely occupied in the report details, "Ugh, private Elliot?"</p><p>The soldier jumped out of his seat losing complete focus and switched to a sudden jump from out of his seat.</p><p>"Uhh lieutenant! I had no idea… SIR!" Elliot yipped as he jumped to a salute like an instant freeze. Took him a moment to realize the lieutenant was in front of him.</p><p>Nate broke a chuckle after watching this private stumble in front of him, "At ease rookie. You're definitely as green as grass and this is snowy Alaska."</p><p>Elliot was able to relax with the humor from Nate. He exhaled a deep sigh, before speaking.</p><p>"Yeah… I was a doctor before all this… Tried to do my best to show support back home but then good old Uncle Sam drafted me here." Elliot resumed his final details on the report. He eventually transferred all the information on the ejected holotape and handed it over to Nate.</p><p>"Thanks private, now help us get the wounded ready for transport." Nate said.</p><p>"Yessir." Elliot.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Several hours passed all the way after midnight. The evacuation was finally finished and all that was left was to get the medical team on the road to allied territory. The wounded are already ahead thanks to Nate and his extra hands. </p><p>"Sergeant Daniels, it's lieutenant Nate do you copy?" Nate said over the radio.</p><p>"This is private Elliot, I hear you lieutenant, the sergeant's taking a shit. We're about to head out ourselves."</p><p>"Good work, Elliot. Make sure you guys hustle up on outta there. The chinese are planting artillery soon. By the way, since you're here. Humor me, you said you were a doctor before all this?"</p><p>"Yessir Lieutenant… Why?"</p><p>"A week ago just after I arrived in Anchorage, my wife called to say she's pregnant."</p><p>"Oh… Congratulations."</p><p>"Thanks… A little advice for you, private. We as soldiers don't fight for what we hate in front of us. We fight for what we love behind us. Don't forget that. Even after you go back home."</p><p>"Thank you sir." Elliot turned off the radio.</p><p>The moment the radio went off. A sudden blinding flash of light surrounded Elliot and his men. Next thing they know they find the ground floating away from their own feet.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Semper Invicta</p><p>October 27th, 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>Recon Squad Gladius</p><p>Brotherhood of Steel</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>After all these years the physical presence of his former lieutenant rendered Elliot speechless. As well as Nate himself for his former private.</p><p>"Lieutenant… Nate… You look like shit, sir." Elliot spoke first.</p><p>"I could say the same for you, private." Nate responded.</p><p>Elliot stepped closer to Nate and shoved his shoulder lightly just to make sure he was actually real and breathing.</p><p>"Nate… You're actually here… For real!" Elliot recycled his disbelief.</p><p>"You went MIA in Anchorage last I heard from you." Nate said.</p><p>Nate just cracked a smile and tackled him with a well deserved bro hug. Which Elliot returned the favor.</p><p>"It's… It's good to see you, Lieutenant." Elliot laid a fist on Nate's chest armor.</p><p>"Likewise, brother " Nate patted Elliot's shoulder in return.</p><p>"So how'd you get here?" Elliot asked.</p><p>"I'd ask the same but I'm more curious to what you shot down."</p><p>"These things are why I went MIA back then." Elliot kicked the space craft, "They took me and my team… I'm the last one now."</p><p>Suddenly next to Elliot, Sally decloaked with a rather interesting device.</p><p>"Here's the kinesis glove, papa." Sally gave to Elliot.</p><p>"Papa?" Nate smirked a little.</p><p>"Oh umm, Sally. This, believe it or not is a friend of mine from the old world."</p><p>"So he's like us?" Sally wondered.</p><p>Dogmeat started barking over to the side and went over to Sally and Elliot.</p><p>"Oh what a cute doggy!" Sally gave Dogmeat air kisses and scratches on the head. He was quite happy with the greetings.</p><p>"Alright, that's enough of a reunion." From behind the three Prewar citizens. Paladin Danse had to draw them back from stalling the time, "Nate if you don't mind we have a transmitter to return to a certain police station. And you, we'd like you to bring that… Aircraft with us if you can."</p><p>"Don't worry Paladin, back in DC the Brotherhood took me in. I'm a fellow knight to the Brotherhood… Or at least I used to be."</p><p>"That's good to hear, that means I can order you to pick up the pace. Let's move out." Danse said with Nate following beside him.</p><p>Elliot equipped the glove given by Sally and aimed a controlled pulse of anti-gravity to the UFO. Making it float in midair like a feather.</p><p>"Holy crap, Elliot." Nate was astonished at the sight, "Hmm. Hey Danse?"</p><p>"What is it?"</p><p>Nate unhooked the Junkjet from behind Danse and asked Elliot to lower the ship so he can stash the device in the UFO's cockpit.</p><p>"Alright let's go!" Nate said resuming their hike back to Cambridge.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Passing Edward Grey's old house, Nate and Elliot decided to resume their catch-up on time.</p><p>"So how'd these… Aliens, get you and Sally here?" Nate asked.</p><p>"These Zetan aliens… After Anchorage me and my team were put in cryofreezing by these aliens, that was until ten years ago. Next thing I know I woke up with a 19th century Cowboy and a Samurai from feudal Japan. My team wasn't so lucky. I was thawed out by this 19 year old kid, a woman, and Sally when she was only ten. They gave me the rundown on what's been happening. After that, the kid brought me and Sally to the Brotherhood. Here we are now! So what about you, lieutenant?"</p><p>"Vault Tec did the same for me and my family. I actually woke up about a week ago. I was the only survivor. My wife was killed and my son was taken."</p><p>"Damn." Elliot mourned briefly.</p><p>"So what's Sally's story?" Nate asked.</p><p>"About the same as ours… When we arrived here for the first time, we've had each other's backs ever since. She's actually the reason I keep fighting. Soldier's fight for what they love behind them… You taught me that, brother."</p><p>"You're definitely not the green rookie I last saw in Anchorage, Elliot." Nate patted Elliot's back.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Back in Cambridge, Elliot and Sally stashed their UFO in the Police Station's garage. Rhys, and the Storyteller remained silent as the two closed the garage behind them. Nate handed Danse the transmitter.</p><p>"Well that could've gone smoother, but mission accomplished."</p><p>"Yeah… That op was sloppy, but I won't lie we made a good team."</p><p>"Agreed… So with that in mind. I have two things to discuss before we go any further. First off, I'd like to compensate you for your service. You definitely know how to handle that standard Brotherhood laser rifle. Why don't you keep that with you. May it serve you well in battle."</p><p>"Thank you Paladin. I'll use it well."</p><p>"Good to hear. Now as far as the second matter goes. I wanted to make you a proposal. Meet me inside and we'll discuss then." Danse turned his attention to the Mister Gutsy, "Dave, take over for Rhys. Storyteller, Edna you're with me."</p><p>The group proceeded inside.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Stepping inside the police station, the whole group was there to welcome Nate. Danse, Rhys, Haylen, the Storyteller, Edna, Elliot, Sally, Codsworth, and Dogmeat as always. They all stood before Nate.</p><p>"Alright Nate, step up." Danse said as Nate followed as ordered.</p><p>"In the last 24 hours, we had a lot thrown at us back there. Our op could have ended in disaster, but you kept your cool and handled it like a soldier. There's no doubt in my mind that you've got what it takes. Roger Maxson would trust you with his life and from what I saw today I understand why he'd say that. I'd be honored to say I'd trust you with my life all the same. The way I see it, you've got a choice. You could spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place, trading an extra hand for a meager reward. Or, you could join the Brotherhood of Steel and make your mark on the world. So what do you say? Ready to join?"</p><p>"I'd be honored to join, sir." Nate answered with no hesitation.</p><p>"That's what I wanted to hear. From here on I'm granting you the rank of Initiate. This is just a training rank. I'm not allowed to grant any ranks further."</p><p>"Gotta start somewhere, right?" Nate responded.</p><p>"Exactly." Elliot commented.</p><p>"Ad Victoriam, Initiate." Haylen said.</p><p>"He doesn't even know what that means, Haylen." Rhys hissed.</p><p>"To victory." Nate answered unexpectedly.</p><p>"Well then master Nate, Maxson definitely knew how to pick his friends."  Codsworth said.</p><p>"Alright, that's enough." Danse halted the conversation any further, "Rhys, Storyteller, Edna head back outside and secure the front, I'll be there to help after Nate and I finish our report. Elliot, Sally, see what you can get from that UFO we brought and make sure it's safe. Haylen once you install the transmitter I want you to give Elliot and Sally a hand on their ship."</p><p>"YESSIR!" Everyone shouted in unison.</p><p>Going to their appointed locations, the Storyteller and Edna stepped outside with Rhys. Codsworth arrived with Nate's old military uniform.</p><p>"Mister Nate, I have your fatigues cleaned and pressed. If you'd like to change." Codsworth said.</p><p>"Thanks Codsworth. Gimme a moment." Nate said before going to the back room.</p><p>Switching back to his Prewar uniform, Nate returned to the main room. After the long night fighting ghouls, mutans, robots and aliens to top it all off. Forcing himself to remain awake while he and Danse wrote out their report. After all that, a couple of MRE's and a Nuka cola. Nate went out like a light for the next few hours.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Later that day, Nate, Dogmeat, and Codsworth took the rest of the day to assist on the perimeter patrol. Nate stood guard at the fort with a cigarette in hand. The day was rather a drag but that's the best thing Nate could ask for. Pulling out his holotape, he began his fifth audio log.</p><p>"This is Lieutenant… Scratch that. This is Initiate Nate. Entry log number five, current date is October 28th, 2287… 17:18 hours… I have a lot to unpack from the last 24 hours, but here it goes…"</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>First off a few things to address. I have no regrets putting the band Queen in the Fallout universe. As Sergeant Daniels said, "Every generation needs to hear Queens music." So yeah. Not changing it!</p><p>Elliot Tercorien, according to the wikia and some places in Reddit, he was a member of the 108th battalion. The same as Nate, so why not have Nate know Elliot. That and it gives me a reason to combine him, Sally and the "Over the Moon" quest from the creation club. Also to have the Gauss rifle and Chinese Stealth Suit from Fallout 3.</p><p>Lastly that glove Elliot used to carry the UFO. The idea behind that device was from Dead Space. Whenever Isaac Clarke would use his kinesis device for carrying heavy things or spearing Necromorphs.</p><p>Anyway, not a bad chapter so far. Hope you guys are liking it.</p><p>Here's to Creativity!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First off, happy pie day! It's March 14th on my end.</p><p>Anyway… This is the longest chapter I've ever made for this fanfic. The last longest was chapter 3… Now this one is about twice that size, and it's so worth the effort and turmoil in my opinion. Whole lot of sweat went into this one!</p><p>Also there will likely be a good amount of grammar errors so I'll be editing this later after it's uploaded. Just FYI.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The Lost Patrol Pt. 1</p><p>October 31st, 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>Recon Squad Gladius</p><p>Brotherhood of Steel</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>For the past four days, Nate, Codsworth and Dogmeat spent the time patrolling the Cambridge vicinity. </p><p>Rhys still gave Nate the bitter stink eye, and Nate was starting to feel irritated with the constant sharking. He's started to think there's more than just the shark attack method. It's like he has a grudge on Nate and they've only known each other for four days.</p><p>"Hey guys, who's hungry?"</p><p>Haylen arrived with a few rations for her and the two soldiers, and a treat for Dogmeat. Giving her a sign of gratitude from the dog. Haylen left Dogmeat with a scruffy pat on his furry head as she dug into her Cheese Tortellini in Tomato Sauce MRE.</p><p>With Rhys digging into his marinara and meatball flavored MRE, Nate handed him a canteen of clean water. He took a good mouthful of water down his gullet after his meal. He gave the bottle back to Nate and started to eat his preserved beef curry meal.</p><p>"Could use some hot sauce." Nate said between chews.</p><p>"It's still protein ain't it?" Rhys said with his mouth full.</p><p>"Yeah…" Nate finally finished his meal.</p><p>Elliot, Sally, Codsworth, Edna and the Storyteller finally arrived from out from the garage. They looked like they've been down in the pits of a racetrack like any regular grease monkey at a car shop.</p><p>"Well the good news is that we managed to extract some data from the UFO's mainframe."</p><p>"Any bad news?" Rhys muttered.</p><p>"Bad news is that the ice boxes are starting to run out of power. Those alien bodies are gonna stink through their ponchos." Elliot snared back at the garage.</p><p>"Okay, Elliot… Remind me, why did you have to dig up the alien bodies? And bring them here?" Rhys said. With his arms across his chest.</p><p>"Research for when reinforcements arrive… Besides their dead, they're not gonna complain about what we do with the bodies." Sally said rather strangely.</p><p>"The brotherhood will definitely complain with a stink like that." Rhys responded.</p><p>"I believe Sally here was referring to the alien corpses they killed. Since they're dead they can't complain… Because they're dead." The Storyteller jumped in on the chat.</p><p>"Dark… But touché." Nate had to finish that conversation quickly since he was still eating.</p><p>"I'll go power up the freezer, pops." Sally said walking towards the back of the station.</p><p>"You know it's Halloween today." The Storyteller mentions while popping his knuckles.</p><p>Edna responded with some binary beeps that only Codsworth.</p><p>"Oh my, mister Storyteller your eyebot definitely seems jumpy at the name of that holiday."</p><p>"Yeah I tend to tell interesting ghost stories from around the wasteland at this time of year."</p><p>"Do you?" Nate slyly grins, "You know back in the Army our unit would draw names on who would tell a scary story… We'd have so many stories we'd last till midnight." Nate says reminiscing about his past.</p><p>"Why don't we do that, now." Scribe Haylen suggested. In response, Edna floated back inside the police station.</p><p>"I'm game!" The Storyteller jumped to the idea.</p><p>"Rhys?" Nate asked over to the Knight.</p><p>"Heh, why the fuck not." Rhys sighed.</p><p>Right on cue with unexpected timing, Paladin Danse stepped out with an assignment.</p><p>"Rhys, Nate come down from there, I have an assignment for you two."</p><p>"Yessir!" Nate and Rhys both shouted.</p><p>Rhys and Nate fell in line in front of Danse to hear their mission.</p><p>"I'll make this brief for you, initiate. Over the years, the Brotherhood has sent several Recon Teams to the Commonwealth. The last squad went in three years ago. They never reported back. Officially, they're missing, presumed dead."</p><p>"Sorry to hear that. Sounds like we're going out to find them?" Nate answered.</p><p>“Correct, and don’t be sorry. Everyone who signs up for a recon mission knows what to expect. Our lives depend on our training, and on each other. If we should fall, the Brotherhood will honor our memory. We have a responsibility to find out what happened to them, if we can.”</p><p>“We won’t let you down, Paladin.” Rhys responded, still stiff as the soldier he is.</p><p>"Outstanding, their insertion point was in the hills near Malden. Nate, monitor your pipboy for distress signals. All recon teams are issued distress pulsers that put out a short-range homing beacon. Good luck you two. Ad victoriam.” Danse was about to leave to go inside the station but Elliot stepped in on the last minute.</p><p>“Excuse me, Paladin. I don’t mean to overstep, but could you use an extra hand?” Elliot volunteered.</p><p>“Sure… Initiate Nate, since you’re the one with the PIpboy, i’m putting you in charge of the investigation, Knight Rhys you’ll on point. Knight Elliot, cover their six. Are we all understood?”</p><p>“Yessir!” All three shouted.</p><p>“Alright, Nate, Elliot Malden is going to be a heavy hike from here. So pack up light; ammo, water, stims, anything that’s essential and lightweight. We’re moving out in ten minutes.” Rhys spoke to the two.</p><p>Nate stepped inside the police station. Putting on a standard issue combat chest piece over his Brotherhood Uniform and helmet. He packed his rucksack with enough fusion cells and resources for the hike to Malden. Armed with his BLR-4 given by Danse, his combat knife, binoculars, and 9mm. He was ready to go.</p><p>Nate found Elliot in the same pants style uniform from the Brotherhood, but his selection of arms was different. Aside from the standard BLR-4 rifle, he had a pistol and baton that had peculiar alien designs.</p><p>"Old friend of mine back in DC gave me this blaster… I'd still be in cryo freezing in a UFO if not for him. I got the baton from one of those dead Zetans earlier."</p><p>"That 19 year old kid?" Nate asked.</p><p>"Yeah, he's probably nearing his 30's by now."</p><p>"When'd you last see him?"</p><p>"About eight or nine years ago. I added a little tweeks to this weapon over the years. I found a way for it to use fusion cells instead of those glowing pellet things."</p><p>"Nice. So this kid who spring you out from the… Zetans ice box, did he have a name?"</p><p>"Yeah, it was-"</p><p>"Cut the chatter. Let's get going ladies." Rhys barked in full combat armor and helmet. His laser rifle had a wide CQB lenses reflex sight and gyro quantum compensator for extra damage.</p><p>"Alright, let's go find our lost teammates." Elliot said popping in a new fusion cell.</p><p>"Dogmeat, Codsworth stay here and reinforce the station.</p><p>"Proud to serve, mister Nate." Codsworth saluted proudly as Dogmeat barked.</p><p>"Lets move out." Rhys took lead as Danse ordered.</p><p>"Malden is about a few miles northeast from here." Nate said bslased on the old Boston Massachusetts.</p><p>"Alright, Nate keep your ears on your pipboy. Let's move out."</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The Passing of the Torch</p><p>October 31st, 2287</p><p>Sanctuary Hills, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Mike Daly</p><p>Sanctuary Hills Militia</p><p>Commonwealth Minutemen</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Gus the heavily upgraded sentry was single handedly patrolling the neighborhood. The new neighbor, Lucy Abernathy from the nearby farm. After receiving her sister's locket, she decided to move out and join the newly developing militia. From the ashes of the Minutemen a new form of protectors has risen.</p><p>At the main house across the street from Nate's old home, Charlie and Kat were coloring on some newly acquired paper with a couple of ice cold Nuka Cola's.</p><p>"How're those cold drinks, kids?" Sturges asked.</p><p>"How did you get these so cold?" Kat asked.</p><p>"Lucky for us, our friend Nate gave me this interesting ice making gun. After some tinkering I managed to make us this ice box." Sturges explained as easy as he could.</p><p>"That's so cool!" Charlie yipped.</p><p>"Anyway, girls. Any ideas on what to do for Halloween?"</p><p>"Dunno… We were thinking of collecting some of these pumpkin props around the neighborhood. Maybe draw some scary faces."</p><p>"That sounds fun, girls. Well have fun today." Sturges finally left the two.</p><p>"You know from what I remember, the kids long ago, would dress up as scary monsters and scare the adults into getting them candy." Charlie said to Kat.</p><p>"Really? I wonder what would be the most scary? What do you think?"</p><p>"I think the most scary costume would be a deathclaw. So big and tall… Always killing. What about you?"</p><p>"I think the most scary would be someone like me… I'd dress up in a super cute dress and have my big robot, Gus do all the scary work! He'd be like an overprotective daddy to me."</p><p>"That does sound scary. We could I be your robot daddy's… Maybe your twin sister."</p><p>"That does sound cool. Super scary too!"</p><p>Down at the gardens, Marcy and Jun were watching the two girls laugh together.</p><p>"I wish Kyle could see this… Thinking about him is getting a bit easier." Jun smiled a smidgen.</p><p>"Yeah, it is… Umm, how's that razorgrain coming along?" Marcy changed the subject quickly.</p><p>"It's doing good. Might be able to cook my old ramen bowl soon."</p><p>"That does sound nice."</p><p>Jun took another glance at the girl, Kat. If his memory serves, she said something about her parents being murdered by the Gunners as well. Just like Kyle.</p><p>For some reason, a moment inside him he felt his depression rising up from his thoughts. He looked back over at Marcy and saw the same angry scowl. Hoping his wife will make it through soon.</p><p>Leaving the girls, and Longs behind, Sturges left to go meet up with Mike Daly, Preston, Clinton and Lucy. Trashcan Carla stood beside the group.</p><p>Today the final details of the proclamation begins. With Staff Sergeant Michael Daly at the helm.</p><p>"So Preston, Sturges, Clinton, and now Lucy. I want you all to know that once we sign this the Minutemen are officially no more. The tricorns, and muskets stay behind all with the name. All that remains is the idea they fought for. Starting tomorrow the Minutemen will pass the torch to the New Commonwealth Army." Sergeant Daly pulled out a pen from his pocket and signed his own name under the document, "Once you guys sign this, there's no going back. Are you all ready?" Daly laid down the pen on the table for everyone else to follow.</p><p>The next person to sign the document was Preston Garvey himself, "I never thought signing a paper would be so difficult, but if this secures the future of the Commonwealth, I'm in."</p><p>"You haven't steered wrong from us so far, Preston." Sturges followed.</p><p>Clinton and Lucy signed with no comment.</p><p>"Alright… Carla, you remember your end of the bargain?"</p><p>"Yeah yeah, I got the uniforms right here. I managed to bring a few of the pistols you wanted. Not a lot of ammo to go around, but I did get the amount of machetes and knives you wanted." Carla brought over the gear she sold to the group.</p><p>"Excellent… This'll be enough. Sturges what's the condition of the APC down at the river?" Daly asked.</p><p>"Well long story short, the condition is fine… It's just empty on fuel. I don't suppose you know what kind of fuel it needs."</p><p>"I do… Alright, I've kept a stash of gear and supplies at the nearby robot junkyard. There's also a deactivated Sentry Bot there. Maybe we can get that thing back in working order while we're there. Sturges, Lucy you're with me to the scrap yard. Preston you and Clinton keep watch on the settlement."</p><p>"Let's get started, boss." Sturges smirked with a confident smile.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The Lost Patrol Pt. 2</p><p>October 31st, 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>Recon Squad Gladius</p><p>Brotherhood of Steel</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Passing the old Med-Tek facility with a pile of ferals that were recently slaughtered by the three soldiers of the brotherhood.</p><p>"Alright guys, the signal's getting stronger." Nate said while monitoring his pipboy.</p><p>"There's an impact crater in those ruins over there, passed the shrubbery." Elliot pointed out.</p><p>"Alright ladies, let's move out." Rhys hiked his way over.</p><p>Following the Knight, they found their missing recon team, "Ah shit." Rhys groaned in grief.</p><p>Nate and Elliot caught up with Rhys to find five power armored corpses with the Brotherhood insignias. All the armor is defective and inoperable.</p><p>"Alright we have five knights all confirmed, KIA. No sign of anyone else." Rhys observed, taking a few looks around the perimeter, "Nate, collect the tags, Elliot, go turn off the distress pulser."</p><p>Elliot went over to collect the pulser, and loot any loose weapons or signs of who or whatever did this to their men.</p><p>Nate snapped off each tag from the soldiers and spoke out their names, "Alright, we have… A Knight Parker, Knight Bednar, Knight Olds, ugh a Knight Burton, and… A Knight Varham. Oh hang on, Varham has a working holotape here."</p><p>"Ambushed on the road. We're outnumbered five to one! Varham, report!... Core's down to 5%!... We'll have to scuttle the armor. We can't let them have it-... Varham!... Dammit! Astlin, set the self-destructs! Faris, fall back! We'll head for the old military base, then try to make it to our holdout. The code will be our callsign. All right, move! Move! Move!" The holotape ended with a loud explosion abruptly.</p><p>"Rest in peace, brothers and sisters." Rhys tool a quick bow. Following Elliot and Nate.</p><p>"There's a National Guard Training Facility south east from here. Maybe we'll find more clues there." Nate suggested.</p><p>"Hold on, Nate… Look around." Elliot began searching around the explosion crater to find something rather peculiar. All right under the three soldiers noses.</p><p>"Five fully armed Brotherhood Knights… In T-60 power armor… There was a firefight." Rhys spoke out loud.</p><p>"Then why are there no other bodies from the hostiles?" Nate finalized the brief investigation.</p><p>Elliot took a look down on the ground for any tracks, signs or anything that can explain this anomaly.</p><p>"There's not a single track of anyone or anything else. All the knights were scattered in every direction. It's as if they were fighting in all directions."</p><p>"Institute Synths don't use ballistic weapons and they didn't leave blood." Nate added for help of some kind.</p><p>"No… That's just it, there are no footprints of anyone else around." Elliot finalized.</p><p>For a moment, Nate began to feel an old sense of déjà vu in this scenario. A sense of familiarity sparked inside him from his past… Back in Anchorage, Alaska.</p><p>"No… It can't be." Nate muttered under his breath.</p><p>"We need to report this to Danse ASAP." Rhys said, preparing to trek back to Cambridge.</p><p>"No Rhys, the military base is a shirt hike from here. We need to confirm the status of the rest of the team. At least three other soldiers out there that's MIA." Nate refused.</p><p>"It's been three years Nate. I think we can confirm their status by now." Rhys argued back speedily walking towards the Initiate.</p><p>"We're not confirming anything till we find evidence no less than bodies, Rhys." Nate stood his ground not losing eye contact.</p><p>"Dammit Initiate. We are going back to the police station. That's an order from your knight." Rhys struck the Initiate with a pointed finger tapping at his chest plate.</p><p>"And since when does a knight turn his back on his own brothers? Back in my day in the Army we confirmed our casualties." Nate remained stone planted.</p><p>"You mean the same Army who let our world burn from nuclear armageddon?" Rhys shivved both Nate and Elliot with those sharp poisoned words.</p><p>Nate perhaps took it the worst. The last straw was drawn and he was about to punch Rhys where he stood. Elliot on the other hand managed to tackle his former lieutenant before he could punch and turned his entire arm behind his back. Placing his foot over his neck to keep him still, Elliot held Rhys back with his knife drawn at him. Not as a threat but as a warning to keep his distance.</p><p>"Nate buddy, cool your jets. That's not gonna solve anything." Elliot spoke in a stern commanding time of voice.</p><p>"That's right Initiate." Rhys added.</p><p>"Hey shut your mouth! I didn't ask an amen from you so shut... The fuck… Up. No Rhys, don't respond, don't even nod your head for anything. Just turn around and survey the perimeter while I talk to him."</p><p>"Now listen… Lieutenant Nate. I'm gonna let you go now, brother. I want you take a breath count to four, exhale and repeat. Be sure to pick up your weapon." Elliot let go of his old commanding officer and he did what he was told. Nate's former private really has grown into a true soldier in the last ten years.</p><p>As Nate was catching his breath, Elliot turned over to Rhys, "Now Rhys, tell me, how long have you been a knight in the Brotherhood?"</p><p>"Three years." Rhys answered.</p><p>"Oh really… Well I've been a knight for the brotherhood for eight years. So if we're gonna pull rank here. Then as the senior knight of this search party, I'm ordering you to resume point and turn your ass to the southeast to the military base."</p><p>Rhys glared at Elliot in defeat and stood still frozen like a deer in headlights. Elliot walked closer till Rhys could feel Elliot's breath on his face.</p><p>"Now you shoulder your fucking rifle." Elliot wasn't going to ask again. Rhys could feel it in his glare.</p><p>Rhys took a quick breath through his nose and down into his stomach, and held his weapon close.</p><p>"Let's get going, team." Rhys breathed out, loud enough for the other two to hear.</p><p>Elliot held his weapon and let Nate go ahead of him so he could cover the rear as Danse ordered.</p><p>For a brief moment, Nate and Elliot thought they saw something whisk behind the rock in the distance. It looked like something red and tiny. Like the size of a mortar shell.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The old National Guard Training yards looked as shitty as he expected. 210 years of grime, rust and decay swarmed over the barracks, and yet the building still stood tall. Making their way to the front door, Nate could see the defense turrets still operating. Must've been the missing brotherhood members doing. Approaching the front door, slowly. Rhys kept his weapon up front to the point he didn't think to look down to find a landmine he just triggered.</p><p>The alarm set off immediately, but not as fast as Rhys was pulled away and tackled down on the ground. The blast radius was just outside by a hair from their boots. Once the ringing in Rhys's ears settled and the dust cleared he looked up to see who threw him down on the ground. Nate picked himself up from the ground and offered Rhys a hand off the dirt.</p><p>"You alright knight?" Nate said as Rhys accepted his offer to help.</p><p>"Yeah…"</p><p>"Right… Well the beacon is coming from inside the base. I'll go in first. Rhys watch my back, Elliot cover our six." Nate ordered.</p><p>"Got it, Nate." Elliot turned his weapon to the wasteland. </p><p>Rhys followed Nate at the door. Nate cracked the door slowly to find the front room infested with feral ghouls and a collapsed ceiling. The ghouls hadn't noticed them so they still had the element of surprise. </p><p>"Four ferals, likely more throughout the building. Elliot, get ready, Rhys get the other door. Ready to breach on my go." Nate whispered.</p><p>The group stacked up at the front. Rhys and Nate were ready to break down the two front doors. Nate whispered the countdown at three… Two… One.</p><p>Rhys and Nate kicked down the front and the ferals were chewed up like gumdrops. In a quick precise line of laser shots all the ferals went down instantly. A few more followed from around the corners, and met the same fate.</p><p>"Room's clear. Move up." Rhys signaled.</p><p>A few more ferals arrived from the back room, but it was an easy cleanup to take care of. Making their way to the room, the signal was growing stronger. Nate found a woman in Brotherhood attire along with a few other dead ferals.</p><p>"Oh fuck no." Rhys walked up to his fallen sister, "Knight Astlin… She was the best sharpshooter I've ever seen." Rhys sighed with his head down low. Nate walked over to see her eyes were still open. Reaching to her face he closed her eyes to let her rest in peace. Reaching down her neck he ripped off her tags. Afterwards, Rhys found another holotape.</p><p>"Elliot, take care of the signal, Nate play this, maybe we can find another clue." Rhys said in a mellow tone. The loss is still hitting him hard.</p><p>"Knight Tara Astlin. Brotherhood of Steel Recon Team 429-Alpha. Serial number 3431. It's been three hours since I set my distress pulser. There's been no word from the Paladin or Faris. Their objective was a satellite array on the coast. They may be out of range. My orders were to hold this position at all costs. The entire site has been overrun. The door won't last much longer. Paladin Brandis, sir. It's been an honor, sir."</p><p>Nate and Elliot followed Rhys' glum expression. Then shortly after, Rhys pulled them out of their grief.</p><p>"On your feet, soldiers. We'll grieve once we check the Satellite array. The place she mentioned is not far from here. That's likely our best bet. It's just down the road." Nate said.</p><p>"Rhys… Nate… Go check outside the room and get what supplies you can carry. Ammo, rations, water, medical… Anything our pockets can fill. I'll take watch up front till you guys are ready." Elliot said while walking out to the front door.</p><p>Nate looked around the cooking station and found a foot locker filled with an exceptional amount of goodies.</p><p>"Ten manuals of the U.S. Covert Operations, a bag of MRE's, fusion cells, and… Holy shit!"</p><p>"What did you find?" Rhys asked while packing sealed water and stimpacks.</p><p>"An old book I used to read in basic training, Starship Troopers." Nate opened the pages to check if it's still good to read, "Seems to be in good condition too." Nate opened his rucksack and stowed all the supplies and readables from the foot locker.</p><p>"Alright, let's get going." Rhys said. Nate followed shortly after.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The nearby satellite array was covered in decorated corpses and body bags of unknown gore. According to Rhys and Elliot this is Super Mutant territory. They tend to establish their grounds in crude body decor. Yet that's not the strangest thing they found. While the string of corpses was grotesque, the part that felt truly threatening in this particular place was…</p><p>"All these Super Mutants have been dead at least for over twenty four hours." Nate observed the signs on the corpses. Their smell of rotting flesh under the hot sun was just starting to develop.</p><p>"Wait guys, look." Elliot looked around the corpses, "It's the same MO as the brotherhood knights; no tracks, no signs, dead in all directions."</p><p>"And these muties died recently… Something's definitely off here." Nate looked around.</p><p>Rhys was feeling a sharp pain boiling in his stomach. A mix of acid in his stomach with the release of adrenaline and dopamine morphing into fear. His legs started to shake and fall to his knees. He started breathing out slowly to keep his head from spinning or hurling out dry heaves.</p><p>"Nate, go find the distress signal. I'll keep an eye on Rhys." Elliot said</p><p>"You got it." Nate responded. </p><p>Making his way up the satellite he found Scribe Farris and his distress pulser. His eyes were the same as Knight Astlin. So Nate closed his eyes just as he did for the Knight, ripped off his holotags and found his holotape. Turning off his pulser, Nate made his way down the satellite tower and noticed another sense of hidden eyes in the corner of his vision just past the fence. This time he saw debris rattle for a bit. Something tiny was hiding behind those rocks. Keeping his guard up, Nate resumed his way to Elliot and Rhys to play Scribe Ferris's last words.</p><p>"Here we go. This was from Scribe Ferris." Nate inserted the holotape and ohit play.</p><p>"It's been... two hours since the Paladin left. My leg... I can't staunch the bleeding. Bullet must've hit an artery. Brandis... if you get this... I hope you make it back to Astlin in time. There was nothing you could do for me. Get to the bunker up north. You'll survive. That's all that.. all that matters…"</p><p>The recording stopped.</p><p>"Any idea what bunker they went to?" Elliot asked.</p><p>"There's one bunker nearby, Listei Post Bravo."</p><p>"No… That can't be it. Our squad has been there already. We marked that place in case we ever lost the police station. There were no other signs of any of our brothers there." Rhys confirmed.</p><p>"Then the only other place could be Recon Bunker Theta. It's the only other place I can think of that's north from here. It's gonna be a hike to get there, but if this… Paladin Brandis could be there. It's worth the trip."</p><p>"Alright, let's get going…" Elliot noticed Rhys is not looking so well, "Nate, why don't you take point from here."</p><p>"Yeah." Nate agreed, "Also, Elliot I think you have something stuck under your boot. It's starting to get under mine and Rhys's."</p><p>What Nate meant to say was "We're being watched." Remembering that brief tangle of rolling pebbles down outside the fence. Using code words from back in their time in the Army.</p><p>Elliot looked under his boot and nodded, "Yeah we better keep clean that up soon." Elliot played along with the ruse.</p><p>Making their way North, Nate thought to himself of what he saw earlier at the satellite array. For a moment the idea hit him, "No… No that couldn't have been a liberator drone. It's been 210 years." Nate thought to himself while shrugging off that possibility.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The sun started settling down to the west, and the stars were peaking over. They managed to make it to the bunker, and Nate started to open the terminal's keyboard.</p><p>"Alright the password should be the same, last I checked."</p><p>Punching the enter button with the old password, and the door opened as they were hoping.</p><p>Stepping inside the three found perhaps the impossible and then some.</p><p>"Freeze! One more step and I'll... I'll blow your damn head off! Who are you? Who sent you? How'd you get in here?"</p><p>The three soldiers instantly held their hands up.</p><p>Two elderly men in the standard red and black brotherhood uniforms were behind a makeshift barrier from a turned over table. The one at the helm of the table wore pieces of makeshift armor from scrap metal and held a laser pistol with a jittery trigger finger. The second had a shaved head and looked just as deranged as the other. Although he carried an average combat knife, his armor was in more cleaner condition though.</p><p>"Are you Paladin Brandis, sir?" Nate asked.</p><p>His gun was still steady, "What? Who are you? Where did you hear that name?"</p><p>"I'm Initiate Nate, this is Knight Rhys and Elliot. We're recon squad Gladius of the Brotherhood of Steel. We were sent to investigate your missing squad." Nate spoke slowly but fearfully. The two were on edge and would open fire with one wrong word.</p><p>"The Brotherhood? No, no, no, it can't be. They're… They're too far away. They wouldn't send you… Would they? Let's… Let's say I believe you three. How did you find me?"</p><p>"We followed the distress beacons left by your team. Their holotapes led us here." Nate explained with a little less tension in his voice since he's getting to the Paladins good side.</p><p>"The others! The others! What happened to them?"</p><p>"They're dead, Paladin. Confirmed KIA's, we recovered their tags."</p><p>"You... you did?"</p><p>Nate slowly reached for the tags in his backpacks side pockets. Brandis still had his gun trained on them but his hands are shaking less. Along with the other member's knife whose name they don't know, but he's been awfully quiet. Nate eventually showed the tags in full view of the Paladin. All signs of tension left the Paladin and other old soldiers faces in a snap. Nate slowly walked forward to give the old soldier the tags.</p><p>"Thank you. This... this really means a lot to me." Brandis finally lowered his gun and a look of relief was found on him, "I... I tried to go back for them, you know. There was nothing I could do, not alone. But... I had hoped… You've been through a lot to find me. I should... I should give you something. I've collected a lot over the years. Technology. Odds and ends. If you see anything you want, take it, take it."</p><p>"Alright, Paladin Brandis." Rhys was the first to speak up, "Don't suppose you can tell us who your partner here is?"</p><p>"Oh… You can see him too?" Brandis said rather dumbstruck.</p><p>"That's Scribe Rothchild…" Elliot finally put a name on the other old timer, "He used to be head Scribe of the Brotherhood back in DC. He left about seven years ago."</p><p>"Good to see you too, Elliot." Rothchild finally spoke, "This old paladin here thought I was a figment of his imagination. I figured I'd go with that idea so I can keep an eye on him. Sorry for the ruse paladin."</p><p>"It feels like my sanity has just returned all of a sudden." Brandis said.</p><p>"Paladin, Scribe. We have a base stationed in Cambridge, you should come with us. It's time you guys reported in." Nate said.</p><p>"I don't know it's been so long we'd be no use."</p><p>Rhys stepped in next to say his piece, "You guys were stuck together for three years. None of us know the Commonwealth better than you guys."</p><p>"I've been gone for almost ten years… They could take Brandis but they won't take me back… Would they?" Rothchild said.</p><p>Elliot stepped in "The Brotherhood needs all the help they can get right now. Rothchild… I left the brotherhood the same time as you, and they brought me back in all the same. You're more valuable than you know."</p><p>Nate finalized the deal, "And Brandis, the brotherhood will honor the memory of your team. Shouldn't you be the one to tell their story?"</p><p>"Rothchild, they're right… If we don't go back, their sacrifices, everything we've been through, it'll be forgotten. We can't let that happen."</p><p>Rothchild stayed still for a moment to process the Paladin's words. He eventually nodded in a determined mindset.</p><p>"You're right. Alright, kids we'll do it. Brandis let's go pack our things." Rothchild went over to his bunk.</p><p>"We'll wait outside for you two."</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Brandis packed his bag with his last holotape log, fusion core, and stealthboy. He turned off his pulser and gave it to Rothchild to carry.</p><p>Stepping outside the bunker the two were ready to travel.</p><p>Elliot and Nate were still having that sense of being watched somewhere. Rhys walked up to the two and started scrambling them to their designated points.</p><p>"Let's get going guys. It's a long hike to Cambridge… Guys… Guys!" Rhys shook the two pre war soldiers out of their daze, "The hell's with you guys?"</p><p>Nate and Elliot looked back up at the nearby woodlands.</p><p>"There's something out there watching us." Nate said quietly.</p><p>Elliot on the other went to Paladin Brandis to ask him a question.</p><p>"Paladin, you and your team were ambushed near Med-Tek… Who or what attacked you guys? There were no signs of enemy tracks and we saw the same thing at the revere satellite array for a group of super mutants."</p><p>"To be honest, son… That's the thing. Whatever attacked us, we couldn't see then. They were invisible. We thought they could be Nightkin but…  They were taller, precise, agile and smart. It's like-"</p><p>Quickly from above a group of cloaked figures with long sharp weapons jumped down.</p><p>"Contacts!" Elliot shouted. One managed to snatch Brandis and Rothchild in both arms, but Elliot was tackled by another from behind. </p><p>Rhys and Nate couldn't fire their weapons not without hitting Brandis or Rothchild. Rhys was swept from his feet and was hit hard from behind. Another figure had them surrounded on both sides. Now in a daze, it was just Nate. He managed to lay a good amount of shots on the figure who struck Rhys. Enough to deactivate it's cloaking to show what's been tailing them and the last recon team for the past three years.</p><p>It was a dark blue skinned humanoid. about nine feet tall. It's build was more slender and less buff than any form of super mutant. It wore slim red colored kevlar across it's limbs, waist, shoulders and upper torso. The wired coils along the armors design was built to reinforce the cloaking and right at the center of it's chest plate was a symbol Nate knew all too well. What these things are, were still a mystery to him, but who they are and what they fight for was not.</p><p>These monsterous humanoids carry the red star shaped emblem of the People's Liberation of China's Republic.</p><p>Nate snapped himself out of his moment of realization and started shooting at it again, full auto. Shrugging off the lasers the beast snatched Nate from the collar bone and slammed him on the bunkers concrete wall. It pulled out a monstrous looking knife. It could actually be a dagger given the size. The knife started buzzing and hummed out sparks of electricity. The beast quickly lunged it's blade for Nate's heart but he was able to hold it back with his free hand. The strength of this thing was strong and Nate couldn't hold long. With his other hand he quickly went for his combat knife and hacked his hand halfway to the bone. He dropped Nate in the ground while gripping it's wound. A menacing growl roared at Nate but at the corner of it's eye was Rhys tackling it with a hard shove. Rhys quickly pulled out his pistol and shot the thing back to it's group.</p><p>"Huí dào xuéxiào" The beast roared to the others of his group.</p><p>The other two beasts decloaked for a moment and held Paladin Brandis, Scribe Rothchild and Knight Elliot as hostage. The one that took the most damage from Nate and Rhys swiped Elliot's rifle and kept Nate and Rhys at bay. One of the humanoids pulled out what looked like a concussive grenade and the moment the device hit the ground the whole scene went bright, and up in a quick daze on the ground. They saw the three beasts cloak and flee the bunker down south. </p><p>What felt like a moment later, Nate and Rhys found themselves jolting up from the dirt ground outside the bunker.</p><p>"What the Fuck were those things!?" Rhys spat in disbelief.</p><p>"I have no idea… But…" Nate began catching up on everything that just happened, "I think I know where they're going." </p><p>Nate picked up his weapon and checked to find his gear intact. Same with Rhys.</p><p>"That one… Thing we hurt. It said 'return to the school'."</p><p>"You're shitting me! That thing spoke more like gibberish."</p><p>"They were speaking chinese!" Nate immediately rebounded, "Those things had the red star of the chinese army on their armor."</p><p>Rhys took a hard sigh and started listening the initiate, "... What school do you think they went too?"</p><p>"I have a hunch. The only school that could be used as a base is Malden Elementary."</p><p>"What makes you think they'd go to that school?"</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay so there's a lot to unpack in this chapter that needs explaining.</p><p>Good thing Nate didn't go on this mission alone, right?</p><p>Also Daly seems to know what to do with the Minutemen. So proud! And he's whipping Preston into work! Good man!</p><p>So to start off, the chinese super mutant beasts was an idea I had for what China would do for a super soldier project. For the design of how they look I took inspiration from Halo's Sangheli "Elites" given how tall, agile, and dangerous they can be. I figured hard, quick and quiet would be how Chinese supersoldiers would fight in Fallout.</p><p>So as a personal retcon for the sake of this fanfic I figured a best scenario in Fallout's history for this would be this: If China was able to infiltrate the Mariposa facility in California, steal a sample of the FEV and copy down the research data on the supersoldier program that created the "super mutants" in Fallout. Maybe they'd use what they acquired and make their own super mutant soldiers. With America's research combined with China's own research and resources from the FEV. Perhaps they'd manage to perfect the FEV and make it an actual success.</p><p>Now I'm no savant to the lore of Fallout, but I know enough of it to branch out with my own ideas and connect the dots. I figured this would be the best scenario for why they exist.</p><p>Also it's a fanfiction… Anything and everything is possible here!</p><p>So in Fallout 4 there's a random encounter where you meet a scribe known only as "The Scribe" I figured since Rothchild's status is unknown, both him and the scribe share the same hair and eye color according to Fallout's Wikia. It might as well be him.</p><p>Here's to Creativity!!</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Taking advice from one of my reviewers on Fanfiction in their last review. I figured maybe the chinese stole the research from California's Mariposa base but maybe their FEV sample came from somewhere else. Maybe somewhere in a place found in Fallout 76.</p><p>Anyway, before you guys read ahead. I want you all to know that this chapter was difficult to write. Mainly because I'm half asian and… Well you'll get the idea when you read. Go ahead and enjoy the chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>000000000000000000000000f000</p><p>Transgression of Innocence Pt. 1</p><p>March 16, 2077</p><p>Chinatown, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>George Liu</p><p>Civilian</p><p>America</p><p>000000000000000000000000f000</p><p>The heat was crawling over George Liu's skin and under his clothes was the first sense he could feel this morning. The sound of the radio, the smell of coffee were all seconds afterward for him. The heat from the apartment was as unbearable as their supervisor refusing to repair the air conditioner. When he woke up for the morning, his eyes still sealed shut, he had no intention of waking up now, and yet the aroma of brewing coffee called to him.</p><p>The nearby Radiation King radio was playing in the background of the room. All George could do was wait out the sleep in the eyes and listen to the radio newsman, "Good morning Boston, Chinatown. You're listening to NPR 90.9 FM" shortly after the introduction, a female news anchor repeated the same but in chinese, "Zǎoshang hǎo Boston, Chinatown. Nǐ zài tīng NPR 90.9 tiáopín."</p><p>"It's another beautiful day in the Boston territories. With the highest temp in the lower to mid fifties and strong winds expected from the west. As the day's roll on another reminder that curfew has been moved up to nineteen hundred hours. Earliest to bed is the earliest to rise. Now back to the music for our brave men in Alaska." The radio began playing 'From Sea to Shining Sea'.</p><p>George finally found the strength to pull himself off the couch he saw his fiance, Lori Yang, brewing the coffee he's smelling for them. Slocum Joe's coffee was always a great welcome.</p><p>Stretching out his morning fatigue and popping his joints from the ankles to his neck, he made his way over to the open window. Watering his little flower garden over the window, he saw a school bus with the name "Malden Elementary" pass around the corner. Watching the rest of the streets morning routines, George turned his attention over to the one woman in his life. The same lady wearing his grandmother's wedding ring given by her lover long ago. George's grandmother gave him the ring as her last gift before passing to be with his grandfather, and now George's lover wears it.</p><p>Still watching the coffee brew, Lori was caught by surprise with a pair of warm and safe hands wrapped around her waist. A slight jump yipped in her chest was quickly calmed in response. There was already a good amount of tension in her body over the last week, and his presence and touch let her breathe out everything. Her scent of lavender body wash still loomed in her dark majestic long hair from yesterday's shower. The scent gave George a sense of peace and life just like Lori.</p><p>"Have you heard from your family yet?" George asked.</p><p>"No… Nothing… It's been almost two months. I'm afraid she-"</p><p>"Shh." George kissed her cheek till her fears melted away in the red heat in her face, "Everything's going to be okay, sweetie. There's no army in the world or weapon that'll keep me from protecting you. And I'll always find my way to you." George took her hand in his. Both rings were matching and their moment couldn't feel more safe.</p><p>"I love you, George." Lori turned around and was about to give him a well deserved kiss.</p><p>Loud thumps of knocking pounded on their door. Causing the engaged couple to halt their kiss.</p><p>*George Liu… Is this apartment home to George Liu?" A stern voice is heard from the other side of the door.</p><p>George managed to give Lori a quick peck on her lips, "Hold that kiss for me, will ya?"</p><p>The knocking on the door happened again as George broke out of his lover's embrace to answer their visitors.</p><p>"I hear ya, I'm coming." George said while walking to the door.</p><p>A quick and sudden burst from the door opened and some debris smacked George in the face. Next thing he saw were three US Army soldiers armed and faces covered.</p><p>"Against the wall!" The first soldier shouted while pinning George as quickly as he could.</p><p>The second soldier to enter held his rifle to his head. The third and final grunt went to apprehend Lori to the ground. He wrapped her arm still and planted his knee down on her neck.</p><p>"Don't fucking tou-" George was silenced quickly when the soldier that had his gun aimed at him walked closer with the muzzle straight to his cheek.</p><p>The soldier in charge of this group had the rank and tag etched on his chest, Sergeant Vincent. He walked inside casually at the situation in his favor. Hands behind his back and a calm tone in his voice.</p><p>"George Liu… Lori Yang, why would you turn your backs on the country that raised you."</p><p>George struggled out of his restrained hold, but was quickly thwarted.</p><p>"What are you talking about?"</p><p>The sergeant walked over to Lori and kneeled over to see her face.</p><p>"Hmm, you look just like your sister… Figured I'd come here to tell you that Wan Yang has been killed under interrogation."</p><p>Lori was stunned by the sudden news. Her whole body went stiff and cold. Large bullets of tears was her only response to the news.</p><p>George resumed his struggling despite the gun in his face. Sergeant stood back up and went to face George.</p><p>"And you, George. Alaska has finally been saved, no thanks to you. You've refused the drafts during America's desperate time of need. In the end we've brought liberation to our borders. But you chose to side with our communist enemies, now you've forced our hand and you will answer for your crimes. TAKE THEM AWAY!"</p><p>While Lori was hauled on her feet, she was then cuffed and knocked out cold by the same soldier. George couldn't fight back. Not only was he still restrained, but the soldier with the rifle smacked him in the face with his stock.</p><p>George was dazed beyond his sense but he was still conscious. A moment later he saw himself being dragged through his apartment hall and thrown down the stairs. The tumbling down the stairs finally knocked him out cold.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Next thing he saw with his face down on the cement sidewalk was his entire street filled with american soldiers hauling off chinese citizens at gunpoint.</p><p>"Eyes forward, stay in line. Keep moving!" Said the soldier pushing a few of the chinese civilians with his rifle held at the ready.</p><p>"Alright, bitch keep your mouth shut." Said another soldier nearby to Lori.</p><p>George felt his entire person being hauled up from the ground with two strong arms at his sides. At the corner of his eyes was Lori being taken further into the crowd. He quickly looked over to her with his senses crawling back.</p><p>"George, George I love-" She couldn't even finish that last sentence without feeling a rifle smacked from behind her.</p><p>"I said shut your mouth, commie, move up!"</p><p>"Lori!" George shouted as best he could with his consistent headaches.</p><p>"Don't take her from me, please!" George pleaded to the soldiers.</p><p>"Oh shut up you fucking commie lover and get on the bus!" One of the soldiers beside him spat.</p><p>The two pushed him over to the same school bus he saw earlier this morning.</p><p>Taking the first step inside, an MP in sturdy riot gear pulled George further inside the bus.</p><p>"I'll see to this thing." The MP said when pushing him to the back seats.</p><p>Second to last row of seats on the left side were open so he tossed George onto the seat, and cuffed him before taking his leave.</p><p>The other occupants alongside George are not so plentiful. At best there were five other cuffed male civilians of asian descent.</p><p>"Stay seated and keep quiet." The MP said before</p><p>This sight of Asian discrimination around George is the very incarnate of oppression at America's finest example of a state of paranoia and fear.</p><p>Turning away from the cold, rustic interior of his mobile prison what he saw outside his window was no better. Not by a longshot.</p><p>"C'mon, I haven't done anything!" A boy in his late teens groaned in his state of fear. Another MP started to cuff him, but he resisted. Another soldier smacked him in the stomach with his rifle and rebound with another hit to the back of his head. Lying on the ground for a moment another soldier approached from behind and hung a sack over his entire head. He hauled him to his knees. A row of other civilians all with sacks over their heads. Assuming they're asians as well the first soldier resumed cuffing him.</p><p>The bus started moving and he along with the other civilians and soldiers were moving along the street. The scene before him started moving along with the bus. The sack prisoners were left back at the streets in front of the apartment. Next thing he saw were two MP's beating down another civilian on the ground.</p><p>"Fuck this." George whispered.</p><p>Passing next are a couple of trucks loaded with more asian prisoners. All cramped and aimed down with automatic guns from the US army. He could see a woman crying loudly trying to suppress her sobs.</p><p>Leaving the trucks he noticed an alley with a little girl peeking out from in a dumpster. A few german shepherds found the kid and were brought out by their owners from the Army.</p><p>Moving over to the first block, George could hear what's about to happen.</p><p>"Please, sweetie, don't look. Just turn around and close your ears. Please!" A woman begged not to the two T-51 power armored soldiers but to her little boy behind the big armored soldiers.</p><p>"It's okay, Bao, it'll be over soon. Just-" the father couldn't finish his final words to his son being shot dead on the spot.</p><p>Kid saw the whole thing and ran over to them crying loud. The two power armored beasts turned their backs on the now orphaned kid and dead parents and resumed their routine. George looked away and held back his own tears. All the confusion, all the turmoil, all the pain and suffering. All in one morning, it was completely horrible.</p><p>Then another sound of gunfire sprung up and he couldn't see who or where it came from with the bus moving along. Only evidence on what it was for was when one of those power armored freaks spoke to the other.</p><p>"One less commie to worry about in the future."</p><p>George finally unleashed his tears and silently cried it out, bit by bit through the course of the trip. They shot a kid with no shame or pity</p><p>"Hello there, Lieutenant." The bus driver spoke.</p><p>The time flew by so quickly he didn't even notice they were already at the edge of the city of Boston. George looked up at the front and saw the Lieutenant. A man with his AER-9 slung over his arms and his average casual kempt hair. The tag on his chest carried the name, Nate.</p><p>"Corporal, where're you headin?"</p><p>"This batch here is heading for Little Yangtze."</p><p>"Not anymore, son. Just received that Little Yangtze has been fully booked, and that's just for the next plane. Your new orders are to take these people to Bradley International, Connecticut. From there they'll be taken to Turtledove Detention camp in Washington DC."</p><p>"Thank you Lieutenant. So how's the missus doing?"</p><p>"She's fine, my kid's almost a month old."</p><p>"That's good news, sir. Pretty soon your kids are gonna grow up without these commie sons of bitches."</p><p>"Watch your mouth there, son." Nate spat back to the corporal.</p><p>George looked back over at the lieutenant. For a moment he felt a sense of relief to his words.</p><p>"They may be of asian heritage, but they're still red blooded Americans. And if you're calling any of our americans communists. I might have you brought up on charges. Besides you really wanna kiss your girl with that mouth? Now get going."</p><p>The corporal remained silent in defeat and resumed his drive down south.</p><p>George looked over at lieutenant Nate as they drove off. Nate caught George's attention on the bus too. For once, George saw sympathy in and helpless sorrow in Nate's eyes. Several miles away from Boston, the bus moved onward to Connecticut, and was shown passing a group of regular caucasian locals firing down on a group of their asian neighbors. Like prisoners to a firing squad.</p><p>"Please be safe, Lori. I'll find you no matter how long it takes. I promise."</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>After a few hours on the road, George remained in a catatonic state. Just nearing the southern border of Massachusetts the bus took an unexpected stop to an unexpected wreck up ahead.</p><p>"What the hell!" The soldiers spat in complete irritation.</p><p>"I'm so sorry guys, we're trying our best to get all this out of the way. Just give us a few minutes." The man ahead said out loud so they could hear him.</p><p>George broke out of his state to see a sliver of reflected light besides the road.</p><p>Looking back at the two soldiers, one of them stepped out to observe for a closer inspection. Then in a blink of an eye, the soldier had a knife over his throat and choked to death on his own blood. A suppressed sniper then took out the second.</p><p>Eventually the prisoners' own guardian angels phased into physical view at the helm of the bus.</p><p>"Dragoon soldiers." One of the other civilians said.</p><p>"Xièxiè, xièxiè!" Another one bowed to eventual tears.</p><p>They uncuffed the men and the one in civilian clothes turned out to be another dragoon without his stealth suit.</p><p>"Since we saved you five, you now owe us. So here's our proposal for all of you. You all are hereby enlisted in the Shen Lung Trooper Program."</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Transgression of Innocence Pt. 2</p><p>November 1st, 2287</p><p>Malden Elementary, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>George Liu</p><p>Shen Lung Trooper</p><p>Shadow Blade Clan</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>It's been 210 years and the source of FEV from Huntersville Appalachia prolonged George's life to meet these three unconscious Brotherhood members. A sudden pain jolted from his hand from that one soldier who got him. It pissed him off they had to let the last two go, but he knows they'll catch up, eventually.</p><p>And the Shen Lung super mutants will be ready for the last two stragglers.</p><p>Walking over to his pip pad on the counter, he plugged in his holotape journal to remind himself of his goal. Scrolling through two centuries worth of journal entries, a photo of himself popped over. A time when he was human. His bedraggled dark hair and dark eyes. His entire existence wrapped around who he dedicated his entire life for. The only woman that mattered to him, Lori Yang.</p><p>And after all these years, she was never found.</p><p>"Pay back time, America! This is for you Lori."</p><p>He traced a finger over her light and innocent face of the photo.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I admit, another reason this chapter was hard to write was to find material references on this kind of stuff. I looked at other military video games primarily the first Homefront game. Gameplay wise, that game was rather dull. The plot and setting on the other hand made up for the Call of Duty like gameplay mechanics. Speaking of which I went to find a few extra details from the First Modern Warfare Call of Duty from the scene where President Al-Fulani was taken to his execution. Aside from other Videogames I went and looked at other Fallout stories, like the baseball fanboy, Kim. The information and story given by the one and only talented cigar smoker, Oxhorn. Then there's the woman, Wan Yang as mentioned in Fallout 3's Point Lookout DLC campaign. There were a lot of plot holes around these stories where I could fill with my own ideas.</p><p>Then I had to dig up a few pieces in my old Highschool Literature selection. Elie Wiesel's novel "Night" and the Diary of Anne Frank for a few background ideas. Both books are real good I highly recommend them.</p><p>Here's to Creativity!</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sorry for the long gap between my updates. Certain priorities took more attention after the last chapters upload. Anyway, here we are!</p><p>Also Lisowczycy's review from Fanfiction will be answered here.</p>
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    <p>Hellfire Unleashed Pt. 1</p><p>October 31st, 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>Recon Squad Gladius</p><p>Brotherhood of Steel</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Along the roadside, leaving the recon bunker behind, Nate and Rhys started hiking their way back to Malden Elementary with what gear they have left on their backs. Rhys was kept in the dark for a bit on why the Initiate assumed that this particular school would be their destination. The shrubbery gave Nate some cover more discomfort than its worth. He looked in both directions of the road to see the path barren of any animal, human hostile or human like hostile creatures of any kind. The thought of those new enemies from the chinese military struck him hard in the gut. His focus on rescuing his team was the only thought keeping him heaving out his stomach.</p><p>As the sun descended below the horizon, setting skies were replaced with rather clean night skies. The stars were just starting to light up, but it would take time for them to show even brighter. With that as their cue for Nate and Rhys to switch on their head lamps.</p><p>"Okay, Rhys this school is more of a hunch than a concrete destination." Nate explained on the road.</p><p>"So we're going to this school based on a hunch, because?" Rhys asked, lingering for his answer.</p><p>"Because, the egg heads at Vault-Tec built one of their shelters beneath that place. So if there's any school in the Commonwealth that could hide those things from before it's an underground fallout shelter. Vault 75. Me and my wife were denied that vault because my son Shaun was still just a newborn." Nate turned back around to move forward.</p><p>"Alright." Rhys said with no emotion.</p><p>"Also, what's happening here isn't going to be easy." Nate looked over to the higher rank soldier behind him, "I think we should consider backup."</p><p>Rhys's face was struck with a sudden glint of disbelief, "Are you serious?" Rhys's response felt like a whole 180 turn. After everything today, he sounded disgusted at the Initiate's suggestion.</p><p>"You listen to me and listen good, Initiate. We made it this far without turning back. Believe me I noticed. So I'll tell you now, dead or alive, we are pulling our men out! Like you said; back in your day, you confirmed your casualties in the Army. That's still true, right?"</p><p>Nate chuckled in response. Earlier today, Rhys was a struggling regular grunt who only felt alive with a mutant freak crushed under the heel of his boot. Anything else and he was a struggling knight itching for a fight, "Alright, let's go kick ass!" Nate boldly responded.</p><p>Before they could progress down the road, a flicker of fires erupted in the distance. Nate pulled out his binoculars and found someone in a suit of power armor he had never seen in person before. He saw early versions in schematics, but not in physical form.</p><p>"Holy shit." Nate handed Rhys the binoculars, "That pyro freak is wearing some armor I only saw on blueprints before the war."</p><p>"Well I'll be damned. That fucker is wearing Hellfire Power Armor. Those were made after the war by the old Enclave."</p><p>"Enclave?"</p><p>"I'll tell you later. Right now I think if we can get our hands on that suit, we might have an advantage at Malden. It may not be backup, but it's the next best thing."</p><p>"Agreed." Nate looked over at the pyro freak again and saw him exit his armor to replace the fusion core.</p><p>"C'mon he's out of the suit, let's get him!" Rhys said running his way to the defenseless raider.</p><p>Nate and Rhys rushed down the hill and caught the raider with his metal pants down. Next thing the two soldiers saw was a pile of plasma goo that used to be a gang of raiders.</p><p>"Alright, I'll get the fusion core in. You know more about this armor than me so you take the helm." Nate said while searching the residue for the core.</p><p>Rhys opened up the suit and stepped in. Following Nate while injecting the fusion core to the back.</p><p>"Alright, tin man, you're charged and ready. Let's go get our men." Nate patted Rhys back shoulder.</p><p>"Fuckin A, brother!" Rhys said while requipping his laser rifle. Circling his shoulder blades to get comfortable in the suit. After shaking out his legs, Rhys and Nate resumed their hike to Malden.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Gear up!</p><p>October 31st, 2287</p><p>Robotics Disposal Ground, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Mike Daly</p><p>Sanctuary Hills Militia</p><p>New Commonwealth Army</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Michael, Lucy and Sturges made their way to the Robotics Disposal Ground in their newly repaired and fully fueled APC. Michael and Lucy were armed with 9mm pistols and M-14 rifles. Sturges was the only one of the three carrying a remington 870 shotgun.</p><p>"Alright, I hid the stash under the sentry. He's shut down so he won't be moving anywhere. Luckily I kept the holotape that can turn him back on." Mike explained on their way down the junkyard.</p><p>The three went inside the nearby shack and plugged the tape in the only terminal. Michael initiated the sentry to patrol the junkyard. Michael brushed away the dirt and debris to reveal a metal hatch.</p><p>"Clever hiding spot, Michael." Lucy knelt down to help open the heavy door.</p><p>"Hmm, there's a Fat Man over there." Sturges noticed. Starting to climb over the wrecked cars to fetch the treasure.</p><p>"Go stash that in the APC." Mike said before hauling open the hatch with Lucy.</p><p>The hatch screeched open with 200 years of time groaning out in the air. The ladder down to the inside leads to a dark room.</p><p>"Hey Lucy, drop down the light." Mike asked from down the room.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>One whole hour of hauling between Michael's hidden stash and the APC. The three soldiers leave the junkyard with a full crate of six AER-9 laser rifles and another crate of fusion cells. Given their current population in Sanctuary this is more than enough ordinance to bring. Lastly they brought over food supplies and compressed water. Not to mention they have a Fat Man and an extra sentry bot for Sanctuary's security.</p><p>"Definitely a great find, Michael. You really thought well ahead, here." Lucy said as she took her seat in the APC.</p><p>"Yeah… And don't worry, this wasn't my only stash in the Commonwealth." Michael revved the APC to operate.</p><p>"Alright, Michael, the Sentry's already moving up. Let's get back to Sanctuary." Sturges said while shutting the APC's back door.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Hellfire Unleashed Pt. 2</p><p>October 31st, 2287</p><p>The Commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts</p><p>Nathan "Nate" Shaw</p><p>Recon Squad Gladius</p><p>Brotherhood of Steel</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Brandis, Elliot and Rothchild laid on the floor with hands bound from behind their backs. Elliot studied the routines of these tall super mutants, one of them in particular. The mutant that Nate managed to strike with his knife appeared, George Liu. He struggled to switch off his pip pad with his wounded hand, no thanks to Nate. There may not be any chance from this, but any moment helps them find a way out.</p><p>Elliot took a daring look at the screen. He saw a man he didn't recognize wrapping his arms around a woman whose face sparked an idea sparked for him and the rest of them.</p><p>"That woman there. She was pretty." Elliot asked.</p><p>The Shen Lung quickly whipped his gaze over to him and glared menacingly, "What did you just say?"</p><p>"That woman on your pip pad. She looked nice. And that man, was that you?" Elliot answered to the tall mutant.</p><p>"Yeah, she was my fiance before the war. Your military descendents took her away from me when we were sent to concentration camps. Her memory is the only reason I fight for."</p><p>"I remember that day. Back home, they were rounding up every man, woman and child who had asian heritage. A lot of my co-workers at my hospital were taken away that day."</p><p>"How would you know?"</p><p>"Because I was there-"</p><p>The door burst open in sudden surprise from behind George and Elliot with a loud thud, "The other two soldiers are just outside the school grounds. Let's get ready!" Another Mutant soldier arrived with the news.</p><p>"Hey look, one of those soldiers is just like us. It's a long shot, but he may know a few things. You never know till you try." Elliot said before the Mutant could leave.</p><p>The Chinese Shen Lung, George Liu looked away from the soldiers words, and resumed his position in the vault.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Before Nate and Rhys could travel further down the school, a plan was needed to be discussed, "Alright here's the plan, Rhys. Our top priority is to find our men and kill any mutants that stand between us. We don't know where they're hiding them, and they won't give away their positions so easily. We're pretty much going in blind, so we need to be smart and think on our feet. Every room down there needs to be picked clean of any chinese hostiles. I'll take point when we get down there. Every room we clear I need you to watch my back and provide overwatch. Got it?" Nate explained on their way down through the metal barred gates.</p><p>"You got it, Nate." Rhys said, still armed in his new Hellfire power armor.</p><p>Down the stairs to the basement level. The Vault door was in view, Vault 75, and there's still no sign of any hostiles. Nate expected this all too well from fighting the chinese armies. Then again, their Dragoon soldiers were difficult enough, but those tall soldiers were something else entirely. Approaching the front room and was still empty in silence. Nate and Rhys kept their rifles on the swivel. Rhys's infrared HUD was still running empty, and Nate kept his ears open for any noise to be caught. Nate tapped Rhys's mettalic arm to gain his attention. He waved his armored partner to move up as he proceeded to the nearby elevator. The way was clear and empty. Nate knew those chinese super mutants were expecting them. Figured the best way to proceed with their operation was to not disappoint. Rhys and Nate entered the elevator going downward. They kept their rifles up front at the door, and were not introduced with gun fire, but bodies in military uniforms.</p><p>"Fucking Gunners." Rhys spat, "Don't let this fool you, Nate. These men were gunners. Mercenaries for hire… They're more of a cartel than an army."</p><p>Nate swallowed the sudden view. Even if Rhys was telling the truth, the look still worked psychologically. Memories of his dying brothers in Alaska flashed for a moment. Shaking out the images, Nate was about to step out of the elevator, but stopped in his place. He knelt down on the bodies and found a string of rigged grenades laced around the bodies. Just like before in Alaska, some things never change. Nate took a moment to disable the trap and they advanced down the halls. Nearing the next corner, Nate took a peek over his shoulder to find a barrage of laser fire smack him at the length of his facial hair. He was able to turn the corner fast enough to gather himself. The fire is proving an obstacle but not for Rhys. Nate sent Rhys to move up and lay down armored cover fire. The shooters on the other side were invisible, but the sources of their laser fire gave away their positions. Only two fighters were between them and their captives. After four precise seconds, Nate peeked over Rhy's armored fatigue and laid down assisted firepower. The invisible shooters took a good number of laser rounds, but thankfully the BLR-4 rifles had a superb amount per clip and the damage is on par with a standard issue plasma rifle. The two chinese soldiers went down and decloaked. One of them was still coughing up his final words.</p><p>"Long live the Shen Lungs." The mutant soldier said before gargling up blood.</p><p>Nate closed his eyes for a moment and laid a shot in his head to end his suffering. He did the same for the second soldier. Even though he was already dead. You can't be too careful on a confirmed kill. Rhys advanced for a moment to overwatch further down the hallway. Nate took a brief moment to close his eyes and tap a silent nod on their behalf. They may have been members of the chinese communist armies, but that war ended over 200 years ago. Seeing their fight prolong after all this time almost broke his heart, but he had a job to finish. He passed Rhys and advanced through the halls.</p><p>"Did you hear what that mutant said?" Rhys asked.</p><p>"Yeah, Shen Lungs. They're a type of dragon from Chinese mythology. Masters of storms and rain. Must be what they call themselves… C'mon let's go find our men."</p><p>From corner to corner were more Gunner corpses and no more Shen Lung soldiers as before. The duo eventually came across the Vault's atrium. A two story recreational area with a cafeteria and railed upper floors.</p><p>From above a full barrage of Shen Lungs opened fire on the two in all directions. Nate took heavy wounds but could still fight, but not for much longer. Rhys was able to fight a little longer given his new power armor. He pulled out a grenade and threw it over the cafeteria. The whole floor in that section above exploded with a shake of shrapnel. The moment was brief but it was enough for the two to gain an advantage and lay down headshots from disoriented hostiles. Regardless, Nate was still under heavy fire, and was bound to go out any moment. Rhys raced over to him and stood in front of him to take the hits with his power armor. This gave Nate the time to find sufficient cover. He noticed a long table,racing over and mantled over for cover behind the overturned table with Rhys following a moment later after taking a few more hits. The constant shots of laser fire started to amplify in volume. Given their confined interior space, the sound began pounding in Nate's eardrums. For a moment he ceased fire to rub out his bothersome ear. While still in cover, Nate took the moment to swap out a fresh fusion cell. Their laser fire resumed as the smell of plasma grew thicker. After one of the Shen Lungs fell from the second story railing, assumed dead, the final contact finally dropped dead as the weapons finally ceased firing.</p><p>"Alright we're all clear." Rhys announced rather loudly.</p><p>"Alright. Now if I were hiding captives in a vault, I'd likely hide them where the most security can be found." Nate said walking away from the table.</p><p>A sudden grunt on the other side of the room sprouted unexpectedly. The Shen Lung trooper that fell off the railing must've survived.</p><p>Nate ran over to the source to find a slightly wounded Shen lung. His leg is out, but he still can't stand, and his weapon is nowhere near his hands.</p><p>"Let's put this fucker out of his misery." Rhys glared.</p><p>Nate pointed his gun at the mutant piece of shit, but then the Shen Lung soldier looked straight at Nate and his eyes opened in surprise, "You... I know your face." The Shen Lung soldier gathered his thoughts through the pain.</p><p>"You were that Lieutenant at Little China's border. You still believed we were americans."</p><p>What this mutant said was true. That operation was sitting in the back of his mind for so long he almost forgot. Those prisoners on the bus. Which bus he couldn't remember, but he was definitely there.</p><p>"I remember your face that day. I saw sorrow and empathy. You were helpless to do anything for us."</p><p>That's when a memory sparked in Nate's mind. The chinese man in the back of a school bus for Malden Elementary.</p><p>"I do remember you." Nate raised his barrel away from the Shen Lung.</p><p>Rhys had no clue what they were talking about, but just in case he kept his rifle pointed at the trooper.</p><p>"I'm George Liu… Am I still an American?" The Shen Lung, George looked away from Nate as he regained his consciousness.</p><p>Nate looked over at Rhys and took back his rifle. With his eyes shut to the realization before him. Nate pulled out a stimpack and hovered it before George.</p><p>"Where's our men? The ones you took. Tell me and it's yours." Nate asked.</p><p>"Overseer's office. The key card is over in the reactor room." George spilled.</p><p>Nate gave George the stimpack and left him alone with Rhys following afterwards.</p><p>The reactor room had a real interesting recreational set up. Aside from the machinery, they had a little playground and baseball ring. Given the vault was under a school, the kids must've been a priority. Nate decided to investigate the Vault furthermore after retrieving his captive men.</p><p>"What the Hell was Vault-Tec doing here?" Rhys asked Nate.</p><p>"We'll find out later. I got the key." Nate picked out the overseer's card from the fallen debris.</p><p>"Roger that."</p><p>Making their way to the Overseer's office with their key in hand, the duo encountered little resistance along the way. The average pattern sweep of cleaning every corner of any potential hostile locations revealed no contacts.</p><p>Inside the Overseer's office, Elliot, Brandis and Rothchild were found bound in the corner of the office. Nate was the only one able to enter the room and untied his teammates. Given Rhy's new bulky amor.</p><p>"You guys alright?" Nate said after cutting Rothchild out of his binds last.</p><p>"We're okay, son. Thanks for the rescue." Paladin Brandis began rubbing his wrists.</p><p>"Let's get out of here." Rothschild said before picking up a nearby laser weapon from one of the Shen Lung's.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>The group was able to escape the vault with zero hostile contacts from the Shen Lungs and with all the data logs of the past 210 years from the Overseer's terminal. Before stepping out of that awful school, Nate took a moment to look back and remember that Shen Lung who recognized him.</p><p>Elliot walked over from behind to his old CO and looked up at the same place he's looking at. Up on the rooftop of Malden the Shen Lung, George Liu decloaked and gave a quick nod to the two soldiers. Nate gave a simple two fingered wave while Elliot returned the nod with his own.</p><p>Next thing they saw was George cloaking again likely leaving the place as well.</p><p>"Think we'll see them again?" Elliot asked while they were catching up with the rest of their team.</p><p>"That one in particular… Probably not, but I can't say the same for any others like him. Don't worry, private. Next time we see them, we'll be ready." Nate patted Elliot's shoulders.</p><p>"I'm sorry, private? You know I've been a knight while you were sleeping under ice."</p><p>"And who do you think made you the soldier you are, today?" Nate smirked in return.</p><p>Elliot responded with a simple nod.</p><p>"But yeah… Apologies, Knight. Let's get back to base." Nate jabbed an elbow at Elliot's side.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Travelling further into the night at about 0300 hours. The group finally arrived back at the Cambridge Police Station. The first one to greet them was Scribe Haylen and Sally.</p><p>Sally charged straight for Elliot in a crashing bear hug. Haylen helped the rest of the members inside the station. Before Rhys could resume his work, he exited his new power armor in the garage. Nate made his way to embrace Dogmeat, and Codsworth with Rothchild steadily behind.</p><p>"I haven't been with Brotherhood members in years." Rothschild said walking around the front.</p><p>"So what's your story?" Nate said before taking a swig from his canteen. He offered a drink for Rothchild which he happily accepted.</p><p>"Ten years ago… The Brotherhood was starting to cripple. After our Elder at the time, Owen Lyons died, his daughter took the mantle, but she died shortly after in battle. Eventually we began electing one ineffective leader after another. I was almost one of those leaders myself, but then Maxson came of age."</p><p>"Maxson? As in a relative to Roger Maxson?"</p><p>Rothschild stood still for a moment. Seeing this initiate know the Brotherhood's founder was a shock.</p><p>"Rothchild… Do you know about the 'Nuntius Ferro Protocol'?" Nate asked the old Brotherhood member.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Inside the police station, Paladin Brandis was going through his debrief with Haylen and Danse. Seeing other members of the Brotherhood feels almost unreal, but then again, the last 24 hours he's been through has been as eventful as when he first arrived in the Commonwealth.</p><p>"Well Paladin Brandis. Thanks for the details on your reports. When reinforcements arrive I'll make sure they're logged for their next of kin. Till then, why don't you get some rest. You've earned it, brother." Paladin Danse told the old codger.</p><p>Brandis stood from his seat to stretch out his old muscles, "Thank you, Danse. So who's the new Initiate? I don't recognize him."</p><p>"Well believe it or not… Why don't you take a seat first."</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>Scribe Haylen took a quick look at Knight Rhys's wounds. Luckily he took minimal damage regarding bleeds. Some bruises and moderate scrapes. Also Haylen was able to get a good look at Rhys's shirtless pecs as she assessed his damage. Definitely a heated moment for the scribe.</p><p>"So how did it feel out there?" Haylen asked.</p><p>"I'd say it was worth the injuries. We managed to rescue Brandis and Rothchild. Retrieved more power armor, and not to mention we got intel on a new threat and vault."</p><p>"I'd say the mission was well worth its wounds. For you at least." Scribe started finishing the patch up on Rhys's arm.</p><p>"Oh c'mon, I know you're enjoying the view." Rhys smirked.</p><p>Haylen rolled her eyes at him even though he was right, but she pushed it away and began her last stitch on his shoulder, "Yeah… The view is great… Then again, I gotta focus on the Brotherhood. Cause right now you're not bleeding Brotherhood, you're bleeding actual blood right now."</p><p>"Heh, yeah very friggin funny, doc." Rhys looked away as he saw Danse explaining their new initiate's history.</p><p>Rothschild stepped inside with Nate and his dog and mister handy following shortly behind. Elliot, the Storyteller and EDNA arrived just after. The last straggler of the group was Dave, the squad's personal Mister Gutsy.</p><p>"So… This is the one who activated the old protocol?" Rothschild asked.</p><p>Rhys spoke up first, "Yeah, me, Danse and Haylen were there when the message played. The Storyteller too, he can show you the recording later if need be. Also I think it's safe to say the message sparked a personal interest in our well known and annoying scholar here."</p><p>Everyone started looking over at the Storyteller at once again, "Uh-yes, EDNA still has the recording, I'd be happy to show all of you that weren't there. Follow me." For a moment, Nate could spot a stutter in his words. Nate decided to excuse himself from the group.</p><p>000000000000000000000000000</p><p>After everyone was caught up on everything and the group managed to settle out their wounds. Nate stepped out for a minute to have a quick smoke before turning in for the night. Dave shortly followed after to resume his patrol routine around the police station's barricades.</p><p>"This is Initiate Nate of the Brotherhood of Steel. Entry log number six, current time is November first, 2287 04:16 hours. I'm not even sure where to begin. I guess we'll start with the findings in Vault 75. After me and Knight Rhys rescued a few of our men we dug up the information on Vault 75. My God, the vault was built to study and assess the children's peak physical and mental condition. Making them into super soldiers or something. Any kids who made the cut were killed and taken for God knows what, I can't remember. This was all approved by the military I fought with. Then again, my vault was no better. I actually met another familiar face since my last log. I don't know his name, fuck I can't even remember his face, but how he knew me… Well, that struck a chord in me all the same. Anyway, once dawn arrives, me and my group are going to Diamond City. It's time I continue the search for my son. I put enough time away from it long enough. Anyway, any more information or details can be found in Paladin Danse's mission report. End recording."</p><p>Putting away his cigarette pack, Rhys showed up after with a tall flask and offered a swig to Nate, "Consider this my apology for how I've been treating you."</p><p>Nate took the open flask and swigged down from what turns out to be rum. The taste was a tad unexpected, but Nate was able to swallow the liquor. Leaving a few quick coughs from going down the wrong pipe.</p><p>"Strong kick… It's been awhile since I had rum." Nate gave back Rhys's flask.</p><p>"I figured we deserved some of the good shit after today. I think I see why Maxson vouches for you. You're one hell of a soldier, Initiate… And I'm proud to call you a brother in our army." Rhys offered a fist to bump. Which Nate gladly returned.</p><p>"By the way, Initiate. That one… Shen Lung, he knew you from before the war?"</p><p>"Not personally. It was back when we won the war in Alaska. Long story short, we did some awful things to asian americans in the name of our country. I couldn't help those people, but what happened today was the best I could do. And that was 200 years ago."</p><p>"Normally we don't take prisoners."</p><p>"Well we didn't really take him hostage, so in a way we didn't really take any prisoners in the first place." Nate explained.</p><p>"True. Well I'll see you inside. I need some shut eye." Rhys yawned out his sleep as he went back inside.</p><p>Flicking away the stub of his last smoke for the night, Nate returned inside the police station and went straight to sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Here's to Creativity!</p>
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